www.southbankNYE.com.au
Doors open at 7pm. This is an alcohol-free event.
Management reserves the right to refuse entry.

3

5

COMING UP:
THIS WEEK:

$7 ENTRY. $5 FOR GIRLS. STUDENTS FREE.

6

Chugg Entertainment presents

AUSTRALIA 2011
2 SPECIAL SOLO & INTIMATE SHOWS

136 246 | www.qpac.com.au

ON SALE THIS FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER
For more details go to www.chuggentertainment.com

7

QUEENSLAND
Arties Music

Shop 64, Aspley Hypermarket,
59 Albany Creek Road

ASPLEY

4034

07 3263 7966

www.artiesmusic.com.au

Artie’s Music Townsville

99 Charters Towers Road

HERMIT PARK

4812

07 4771 4486

www.artiesmusiconline.com.au

David’s Musical Centre

Shop 2, 38 Tank Street

GLADSTONE

4680

07 4972 7177

Ellaways Music Kedron

315 & 337 Gympie Road

KEDRON

4031

07 3359 8266

www.ellaways.com.au

Ellaways Music Underwood

39 - 45 Compton Road

UNDERWOOD

4119

07 3290 5656

www.ellaways.com.au

Gallin’s Musician’s Pro Shop
Fortitude Valley

59 Barry Parade

FORTITUDE VALLEY

4006

07 3831 5898

www.gallinsmps.com.au

Gallin’s Musician’s Pro Shop
Mermaid Beach

2590 Gold Coast Highway

MERMAID BEACH

4218

07 5504 5644

www.gallinsmps.com.au

Gallin’s Musician’s Pro Shop
Southport

Shop 3 / 1 Young Street

SOUTHPORT

4215

07 5561 1106

www.gallinsmps.com.au

Green Brothers

72 William Street

ROCKHAMPTON

4700

07 4927 3088

www.musicalshack.com.au

Guitar World Queensland

1, 22 New Street

NERANG

4211

07 5596 2588

www.guitar.com.au

Instrumental Music

Suite 21, 200 Moggill Road

TARINGA

4068

07 3871 1333

www.yourmusicstore.com.au

Kerry’s Keyboards

Corner Main Drive & Nicklin Way
(Opp BP)

WARANA

4575

07 5493 4888

www.kerryskeyboards.com.au

Lawrences’ Musicland

363 Mulgrave Road

CAIRNS

4870

07 4033 1363

Mooloolaba Music Centre

Nicklin Way

MINYAMA

4575

07 5444 8889

www.mooloolabamusic.com

Music Express

2048 Logan Road

UPPER MOUNT GRAVATT

4122

07 3849 7088

www.musicexpress.com.au

Music Express

Shop 2001 Garden City
Shopping Centre

UPPER MOUNT GRAVATT

4122

07 3849 2588

www.musicexpress.com.au

Music Express Robina

Shop 2, 76-84 Robina Town
Centre Drive

ROBINA

4226

07 5593 0488

www.musicexpressrobina.com.au

The Best Music Shop

Shop 24A , Homemaker City,
38 Goggs Road

JINDALEE

4074

07 3376 5454

www.bestmusicshop.com.au/yamaha

The Keyboard Shop

Dalrymple Service Road
(down from Sam’s Warehouse)

CURRAJONG

4812

07 4779 4660

www.thekeyboardshop.com.au

Ultra Music

51 Main Street

PIALBA

4655

07 4128 2037

Vivace Music

Shop 8, 62 Pinelands Road

SUNNYBANK HILLS

4109

07 3344 1880

www.vivacemusic.com.au

Yamaha Music Mackay

Corner Victoria & Chain Street

MACKAY

4740

07 4951 3437

www.yamaha.net.au

Promotion commences 1st November 2010 to 31st December 2010 at participating dealers. Not all products listed in this catalogue are available at all Yamaha dealers.
# These products are listed at normal RRP and are not part of this special distributor’s promotional offer. † The “value” specified for the bonus offers is Yamaha Music Australia’s recommended retail price of these products.
*Price drop of 40% applies to selected product only. Visit yamahabackstage.com.au for full terms and conditions.

43

GIVEAWAYS
Two of the most gifted
young actors working in
cinema today – Academy
Award nominees Ryan
Gosling and Michelle
Williams – star in Blue
Valentine, a love story
that follows the intense
relationship
between
a couple who fall
passionately in love in
their early 20s, and then face challenges to their
marriage six years later. Dean (Gosling) and Cindy
(Williams) are parents of a beloved young daughter,
but their relationship has seen better days as they
struggle with the demands and expectations of
work and family life. At breaking point, but flooded
with romantic memories of their courtship, the
couple steals away to a hotel; they have one night
to try and rekindle their passion, and save their
marriage. Thanks to Palace Films we have ten
double in-season passes to the film which opens
Dec 26. bluevalentine.com.au. Subject Line: BLUE
VALENTINE
Australian hip hop is growing strong and growing
with it is Brisbane MC Profecy. The 20-year-old
is just about to unleash his debut CD titled ‘Let
The Music Play’, a five-track EP, showcasing
the versatility and talent of an artist people are
claiming to be the most promising in Australian
hip hop. To celebrate the release of his upcoming
EP, Profecy will host a launch show at Step Inn on
Saturday Dec 11. Thanks to AAA Entertainment we
have three copies of the CD up for grabs! Subject
Line: PROFECY

Thirty years after the death of John Lennon,
Lennon Naked tells of the turbulent lifestyle
of one of the 20th century’s biggest icons.
Christopher Eccleston stars as the enigmatic
musician in a defining period of his life – a time
of disillusion, self destruction, transformation, and
ultimately, hope. John Lennon is one of the most
enduring figures in musical and cultural history.
One quarter of the Fab Four, peace activist, visual
artist and author, he was a man whose personal
life was characterised by drama, intrigue and
eventually, conspiracy. Thanks to Roadshow
Entertainment we have five copies of the DVD to
give away! Subject Line: LENNON NAKED
Gorillaz fans, have we got a prize for you! One
lucky winner will receive a double pass to their
gig at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on
Sunday Dec 19; supporting them will be Long
Island hip hop impresarios De La Soul and
Swedish electronic pop outfit Little Dragon. Plus
the winner will also score this amazing back
catalogue collection: 1x Gorillaz CD, 1x Demon
Days CD, 1x Plastic Beach CD/DVD, 1x Demon
Days Live DVD and 1x Bananaz DVD. Subject Line:
GORILLAZ PACK
Blue Mountains-based rock-and-rollers Belles
Will Ring are gearing up to launch their new
single ‘Come North with Me Baby, Wow’ across
the East Coast. The band will be supported by
dreamy acousmatics Guineafowl and exciting
new-wavers Magnetic Heads. We have got three
double passes up for grabs to their gig at the GPO
Hotel on Saturday Dec 11. Entrants must be 18+.
Subject Line: BELLES WILL RING

Get your music industry news from
The Front Line
Lowdown – news, opinions, tours,
Backlash, Frontlash
On its 35th birthday, we look at what the
future holds for 4ZzZ
Girls are still finding their feet
The ever forward looking Mark E Smith
tells us his highlights from The Fall’s past
Hoodoo Gurus are still giving it
everything they’ve got
Klaxons dispel some rumours
Shout Out Louds are breaking their no New
Year’s Eve shows rule for Brisbane punters
Lime Spiders might be back
in the studio soon
Reverend Horton Heat weren’t expecting
fame and fortune
Categorising Tujiko Noriko’s music is tough
They have a new record out, but Wish For
Wings just can’t wait to be back on the road
The connection that brought Grouplove
together was too strong to deny
Hot Water Music will tour Australia to
a different beat
The Sunburys are comfortable with
their idea of success
Liam Griffin discusses combining
studious pursuits with his solo career

12
14

24
26

BACK TO TIME OFF!

21
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23

26
28
28
28
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29
29

30

Our Live section is packed full of tour info,
live reviews, local news and more awesome
shit than you could imagine
41
Dan Condon gets the dirt on the blues
scene from the Roots Down
52
Adam Curley cuts sick with another musical
pop culture rant in The Breakdown
52
Lochlan Watt gets brutal in our new metal column
Adamantium Wolf 52
Sarah Petchell has enough punk rock to Wake
The Dead 52
Behind the music with Behind The Lines
64
Need to get rid of something? iFlog
65

Italy’s other imagery comes through Tamaryn
Goodyear’s exhibition Non Mi Place Versace
Riz Ahmed discusses film Four Lions
Cultural Cringe looks at the imagery of
Australian currency. That’ll cost you a Banjo
Dylan Thomas lives on in Under Milk Wood
The future is Brink Party #2
Metalocalypse’s Dethklok are not…
‘Okay, they’re a little stupid.’
The jargon of The Looking Glass

18
20

SAT
11TH
THE JJ SPEEDBALL SHOW

FRI 31 DEC

ISSUE 1505
On The Record has the latest, greatest and
the not so greatest new musical releases
Chris Yates spotlights the best (and worst)
tracks for the week in Singled Out

LIVE THIS SATURDAY

A VERY ROCKIN’
CHRISTMAS EVE

Email: give@timeoff.com.au with the designated Subject Line. Entries MUST include your full name, address
and contact phone number in Body of Text. Please note our Giveaways policy: Email before Friday 3pm unless
stated otherwise. If you have won a prize you will be notified by email. One entry per person/per competition.
Prizes must be collected from the Time Off office during business hours with the presentation of ID. Prizes must
be collected within 10 working days from email notification unless stated otherwise. Prizes are not transferable,
exchangeable or redeemable for cash. Failure to collect the prize within the time specified will result in it being
forfeited. Deadlines for entering and collection must be strictly adhered to.

Bliss N Eso are hoping to harness the wide reach and
influence of Facebook to shape their upcoming tour, by
allowing fans to vote on the destinations for an upcoming
tour. The Sydney-based hip hop outfit stand to gain a lot
of free exposure if the concept catches on, as fans will
“share” the link to vote on their own personal pages,
exposing it to friends and other people from the region
they’re hoping to bring the tour to. Early reports on the
results saw Wagga Wagga, the Sunshine Coast, Mount
Gambier, the Blue Mountains and Sydney the most
popular destinations. The band, whose latest album
Running On Air debuted atop the ARIA Charts in August,
will be playing the Big Day Out tour nationally as well as
the Southbound event. Voting is taking place at blissneso.
com/vote, which directs you to the Facebook page.

Often looked to as the model that has helped kill off
MySpace, music recommendation service Last.fm
has posted another loss in its 2009 financial report,
but has improved considerably on the previous year’s.
Reporting a loss of £2.84 million ($4.5 million AUD), it’s
a vast improvement on the £17 million ($27 million) of
the year before. Revenue grew, but liabilities increased
throughout the period. The financial report submitted
to the UK’s Companies House showed that advertising
brought in £5.4 million, subscriptions £1.3 and a little
over £600,000 came from affiliate sales. Staff costs –
including that of director’s pay – was down from 2008.
Last.fm was bought by American television network
CBS in 2007 for $280 million USD, making it one of
the web’s biggest purchases for music and social
networking focused sites at the time. This report
moves the company closer to profitability.

AUS DJ TRAPS GRAMMY NOM
While most news reports have decreed Keith Urban
as Australia’s sole 2011 Grammy nominee, announced
last week (Best Male Country Vocal Performance
for his track ‘Til Summer Comes Around), they have
overlooked Melbourne DJ/producer Dragan Roganovic,
aka Dirty South. Roganovic has been nominated in
the Best Remixed Recoding, Non-Classical category
for his reworking of The Temper Trap’s Sweet
Disposition with Sweden’s Axwell. It is Roganovic’s
second nomination in this category – his remix of
Kaskade’s Sorry lost to Benny Benassi back in 2008.
This year the local remixer faces off against David
Guetta, last year’s winner in the Remix category.
No stranger to the awards, with 11 already on the
mantle, Eminem has led this year’s Grammy Award
overall nominations with ten nods thanks to his album
Recovery, including the major categories of Album and
Record Of The Year. Other leaders were Bruno Mars
who picked up seven nominations, whilst Lady Gaga
and Lady Antebellum managed six each. Arcade
Fire will find themselves fighting for Album Of The
Year honours with The Suburbs pitted against Eminem,
Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now, Lady Gaga’s The
Fame Monster and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream.

XMAS CHARGERS
Looking increasingly like the hot present for Christmas
this year, P!nk has remained at the top of the album
charts for another week with her best of Greatest Hits…
So Far, which is currently two-times platinum. Comedy
duo Hamish & Andy debuted in sixth with their new
record Celebrating 50 Glorious Years released in time for
Christmas, whilst The Black Eyed Peas’ The Beginning
debuted in ninth – their single The Time (Dirty Bit)
returning to the top of the singles chart. Kanye West’s
ridiculously acclaimed My Dark Twisted Fantasy dropped
to 12 in its second week, yet to achieve certification. It
has topped America’s Billboard chart though, ahead of
Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday, her career set to launch on the
back of her appearances on West’s record. Meanwhile,
Short Stack’s This Is Bat Country has been certified gold.

FRESHLY INKED
Brisbane experimental project Axxonn has signed with
new UK label Arlen, which has sealed distribution deals
across Europe and America for new album Let’s Get It
Straight. Reportedly the deal comes after Axxonn played
a show in London late last year that was attended by
scouts. Melbourne act Pets With Pets have signed
with Sensory Projects to release their debut album
Aquatic – Pixie – Acid early next year. Fashion retail
store General Pants Co’s record label Major Label has
announced its December signings – Sydney’s Kite
Club, Perth’s Felicity Groom and New South Wales’
South Coast based The Bungalows. The single label
now has 15 tracks from 15 emerging acts in their
catalogue. Gossling – AKA Helen Croome – has
signed with Native Tongue Music Publishing. Denver’s
Tennis have signed to Spunk, the duo’s debut record
Cape Dory to get an Australian release in January.

INFORMATION TO LIGHT

THE SEABELLIES
INSET: STITCHES
AFTER THE ATTACK

Annual South Australian music industry conference and
showcase Fuse has announced its major speakers for
2011. The three major speakers are Ariel Publicity founder
Ariel Hyatt, Lollapalooza co-creator Vince Bannon and
Eleven president John Watson. Also speaking will be Jon
Mcildowie, Rob Scott, Marianna Annas, Iain Shedden,
Chris Johnson, Vicki Gordon, Catherine Haridy,
Gregg Donovan, Bill Cullen, Phil Stevens, Geoff Trio,
Rhoda Roberts, Steven Foster, Evan Davis and more.
Run in association with the Adelaide Fringe Festival,
the event will run over three days from Wednesday
Feb 16 – Friday Feb 18 (management and songwriting
“masterclasses” Wednesday and the conference
Thursday-Friday), across 20 Adelaide-based venues.

SEABELLIES ATTACKED IN BRUNNIE ST
Newcastle’s The Seabellies were the victims of an alleged attack from a gang who struck members of
the band with sticks and belts last week as they walked along Melbourne’s Brunswick Street. The band
were celebrating the final night in a month-long residency at the Evelyn Hotel, when the attack reportedly
occurred. Suffering cuts and bruises, bass player Eddie Garven needed stitches in his forehead after
being taken to hospital. “It was a shame how it all ended but we don’t blame the city,” frontman Trent
Grenell told Melbourne paper The Age. “It can happen in any city in the world. It was a case of being in
the wrong place at the wrong time.” The band posted photos of Garven’s injuries on their Facebook.

THE VAMPIRE STRIKES BACK
The saga surrounding Vampire Weekend’s album
cover for Contra has started again, with the band
issuing a lawsuit to photographer Tod Brody over
the Polaroid portrait shot he supplied the band for
their album cover. The band are being sued by Ann
Kirsten Kennis, the model on the cover, for $US2
million as she claims she never gave permission for
the image to be used. Brody reportedly produced a
signed release from Kennis, but she claims Brody didn’t
even take the photo. The lawsuit is unique because
while they usually have to be issued in person, but
neither the band nor the courts can locate Brody.
On his website, Brody has written that he has no
comments to make but states, “Ms Kennis’ dismissal
of Polaroid and Polaroid film as something reserved for
family snapshots indicates a total lack of understanding
of the use of Polaroid in the creative community…
[the] claim that the photo ‘isn’t a modelling photo, it’s a
Polaroid so it must be a family photo taken by her mother,’
is blatantly false and totally ridiculous.” It is unclear what
the copyright laws in regards to Polaroid casting shots
– prominent during the pre-digital era – exactly are.
The summons was issued by email and Brody
is obliged to respond by early 2011.

BECOMING A FACTOR
Another attempt to stop the British X-Factor program
from holding the number one single over Christmas
comes from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and his track
X-M@$. The top spot was famously held by Rage
Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name Of last year
after a Facebook group petitioned the public. Taylor’s
track will raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

THE MONEY MAKERS

MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Tom Larnach-Jones is leaving his post as the
entertainment booked for Melbourne’s Toff In Town
venue after almost four years in the position. Finishing
in January, Emily Ulman – entertainment booker and
publicist for St Kilda’s Prince Bandroom – will take up his
role. Alicia Massey has joined Sydney touring, booking,
distribution and management agency Troubadour. Kyle
Sandilands and Jackie O have renewed their deal with
the Today Network for three years, with 2011 set to be the
11th year for the highly successful breakfast radio duo.

Shock Entertainment has moved offices, and is now
based at 369 High Street, Kew, Victoria 3101, the
main reception line is (03) 9205 0900. Following their
sale to Regency Media in August, the independent
label claimed that there would be no lay-offs.

By putting a stop to LimeWire’s free file transferring
service, prosecutors of copyright infringement
claims have killed off the company. Customers to
the legal paid-subscription services were sent an
email last week that stated, “LimeWire Store will
cease accepting new customers on Nov 30, but will
remain online through the end of December to allow
current subscription holders to redeem their credits.”
A statement from the company said, ““As a result of
our current legal situation, we have no choice but to
wind down LimeWire Store operations. Despite our
dedication and efforts, Dec 31, 2010, will mark the
day when LimeWire Store shuts its virtual doors.”

FOSTER ACTS
The winners of the Sunset Sounds Foster Band
Initiative have been announced, six-piece folk-pop group
Charlie Mayfair and indie rock outfit Ball Park Music
awarded the opening two spots at next year’s Sunset
Sounds festival on Wednesday Jan 5 and Thursday Jan 6.

INDUSTRY AWARDS PLANNED

AMID EDITOR STAYS ON
Following the Street Press Australia (Time Off’s publisher)
acquisition of the Australasian Music Industry Directory,
managing editor Justine Lynch has joined the company
from previous owner Immedia to continue to work on the
mag. “I’m looking forward to working with Street Press
Australia,” she told The Front Line, “and to continue
to work on Australia’s leading industry resource.”

Fever Pitch
Golden Leaves
Cutloose

Wednesday 8th December
The May Strikes
Joys Horizon
Maggie Collins

U2 UNDER THE HAMMER
All four members of U2 have signed a Fender Electric
Guitar currently up for auction at aidarena.com.
The proceeds of the sale will go towards Sydneybased charity The Australian Children’s Music
Foundation. Bidding closes Sunday Dec 19.

SHOCKWAVES

OFF THE WIRE

Tuesday 7th December

The BRW Entertainer’s Rich List has been announced,
with Global Creatures – the production company behind
Walking With Dinosaurs – the new number one with $140
million in earnings last year. The Veronicas ($2.4m last
year) have fallen off the list whilst The Temper Trap
joined it with apparently $2.5m, largely thanks to their
royalties from appearing on television advertisements
and the popular (500) Days Of Summer soundtrack. Once
the authority on the subject, the BRW list has attracted
increasing criticism in recent years for its accuracy.

Industry magazine The Music Network and Peer Group
Media have announced that they will be launching
an awards event for members of the music industry
next year. Covering all aspects of the industry
(including publishing, promotions, journalism and
festivals) the nominations and voting processes will
be conducted by members of the industry, while
subscribers to The Music Network will be able to vote.

MUSIC
IS NOT
ENOUGH
In town for U2’s massive arena tour –
about the only time Jay-Z’s going to be the
supporting act – it wouldn’t be BONO
if he didn’t find some time out for other
pursuits. This time Australia got the World
AIDS Day launch and he was in his finest
form, writes SCOTT FITZSIMONS.

I

t’s as if fronting one of the world’s biggest bands wasn’t enough
for Paul David Hewson. Under the moniker Bono, Hewson has
led U2 – for whom he writes songs and most of the lyrics – to
international fame and acclaim and following their peak of popularity,
he’s turned his attention to focus heavily on humanitarian causes
and philanthropy. He’s not without his detractors – to the regular
citizen he can seem overly-self righteous as he travels the world
and preaches from atop his riches – but his influence and ability
to attract attention to causes makes him one of the world’s best
campaigners. It remains good publicity stunt for world leaders
in public or private office to be photographed alongside Bono.

He’s met most of the world leaders that you can think of on the top
of your head and Time magazine have listed him more than once
in polls like ‘The 100 Most Influential People’ and ‘People Of The
Year’ and in doing so has become larger than life – and certainly
larger than his band. Appearing at a lot of his events, the rest of
U2 are nowhere near as outspoken, almost like a good wife of the
president, they’re supportive and quiet while he does his thing.

“I am not naturally the kind of
do-gooder, I’m not naturally the
kind of pain-in-the-arse protagonist
for these type of issues.”
Taking advantage of a photo opportunity and a chance to put
their name to a good cause, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and New
South Wales’ Premier Kristine Keneally were present at the recent
worldwide launch of World AIDS Day, held in Sydney and whereby the
Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge were lit up red to mark the
official opening. If the efforts to turn Sydney Harbour red were a little
disappointing – 15 seconds of flares and an elegant but mundane
parade of yachts – Bono’s performance surely wasn’t. He looked more
assured than either of the politicians there, both on the pedestal and
then servicing the media scrums clambering for quotes and photos.
While Keneally was more passionate with the repetition of the line,
“because this is a disease that doesn’t discriminate”, Gillard was
more ministerial; her calculated and rehearsed delivery at odds to the
wind that was undoing her hairdo. But no one came close to Bono,
who had the crowd onside the moment he emerged with the line, “I
feel like I’m in Charlie’s Angels”, referencing the powerful women he
was surrounded by. Scoring laughs effortlessly from the crowd (too
easily at times) he really was the star here, the one that everyone
wanted a piece of even alongside Australia’s most powerful person.
Two large red ribbons – one each pulled by the elected officials from
the plastic stand to trigger the lights – were being held by the group
following their respective speeches and with Bono in the middle he
toyed with the two ends, his mind obviously ticking over as to how
he could spice up the photo. In the end he put it over his forehead
and animated breaking through the thread, much to the delight of
Keneally and Gillard and polite smiles from The Edge, who, invited
on stage following his frontman’s speech, has seen this all before.
“Just walking on stage I really did think I was in Charlie’s Angels,”
he told media minutes later. Citing a “lioness” energy, “You
look at these great campaigners at the moment, from Oprah,
who’s going to visit your city soon, right through to now at an
AIDS benefit, banging the lectern there for other women.”
On the difference – or rather the comparisons between artistry and
activism – he said, “They’re kind of the same thing in a way. Art is
done by people who don’t know their boundaries or don’t want to
know – they don’t want to be put in any kind box… I am not naturally
the kind of do-gooder, I’m not naturally the kind of pain-in-the-arse
protagonist for these type of issues. I think in a different life I could
have been really lost in my own world. Being an artist strangely,
ironically, took me out of myself; took myself out of my arse.”
The catalyst, he says, was “Listening to John Lennon when I was 11
or 12, listening to Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye – these people
shaped the way that I and my bandmates see the world and they also
whispered this message that things don’t have to be the way they
are – you can kick the world into shape or kiss the world into shape.
That’s what I got from John Lennon – your voice is as important as
any politician’s. That kind of arrogance and megalomania came to me
from being an artist and being in a band.” The next question would
have been – had his public relations manager not led him away, with
more time given to photos than words – when is music not enough?
Because despite providing the vehicle to his current position, U2 itself
with their 22 Grammy Awards – more than anyone else – are not a
means to an end. However travelling the world, public appearances,
shaking hands and making speeches looks increasingly like it is.

13

IN BRIEF
AC/DC, The
Wiggles, Keith
Urban and Hi-5 have
all made the top ten
in this year’s BRW
Top Entertainers
Rich List.
The Dark Was The
Night compilation
released by 4AD
last year has now
raised one million
US dollars for AIDS
charity the Red
Hot Organization.
Soul queen Aretha
Franklin has
reported she is in
good health after a
major operation. She
has not stated what
the operation was.

NASH TRAVELS
WITH BESTY: YOU
One of the undeniable smash hit acts of this year’s
Splendour In The Grass was Kate Nash and
the British songstress is ready to come back to
Australia to wow us all over again next year. She
has long been a darling of the music press in her
home country and the release of her latest record
My Best Friend Is You has done nothing to change
that. The record is described as poignant yet playful
with plenty of Nash’s much loved idiosyncratic
touches, which often includes more than a little
crudity, so you should pretty much be prepared
for anything when she comes to town to play The
Hi-Fi on Saturday Feb 19. Tickets are available
from the venue and OzTix from Monday morning.

DOWN BY THE SEA
We think you’ll agree that it has been pretty bloody
special having Wollongong stoner rock legends
Tumbleweed back in our lives. For those of you who
simply can’t get enough of the band’s early material
that they have been airing at their incredible live shows
of late then you’ll be pretty damn excited to hear about
the Aztec Records double-CD reissue of the band’s
earliest recordings, entitled The Waterfront Years. The
compilation features all the material the band wrote
prior to signing with Polydor Records in the mid-90s
and is a must for all fans. On top of this, the band has
been writing new material so here’s hoping we’ll see a
new record materialise before too long. This summer
they are heading up here for a quick trip to the beach,
playing the Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay on Sunday
Jan 9 with special guests Dropping Honey. Tickets are
available from OzTix and the venue right now for $23.50.

A couple of years back Black Mountain made their way out to Australia on the back of their kick arse second record In The Future and
managed to impress us all more than sufficiently with their live show and have us excited about their future. This year the band released the
follow up to that aforementioned record, Wilderness Heart, and it has seen the Canadian act pick their game up considerably, which is really
saying something. The album is a rootsy chunk of psychedelic prog-rock, but probably about 15 times less wanky than you’re imagining from
that description. The band are on their way back to Australia in support of the album and will once again drop by The Zoo while they’re here,
this time on Thursday Feb 17. Tickets are on sale now for $54.10 and you can get them from the venue’s website, OzTix and usual outlets.

Temptation, the
sixth album from
The Waifs, will
be released in
March next year.
Last week Sony
Music mistakenly
had some of
Bradford Cox’s
Atlas Sound tracks
(as featured in
Time Off’s On The
Download section
last week) taken
down. The company
has apologised for
the bizarre mix up.
Eminem has picked
up ten Grammy
nominations for
next year’s awards.
He was followed by
Bruno Mars with
seven, while Jay-Z,
Lady Antebellum
and Lady Gaga all
scored six apiece.
Prime Minister Julia
Gillard was spotted
in the audience at
the Blondie show
in the Yarra Valley
over the weekend.

IN BRIEF
Soundgarden
guitarist Kim Thayil
has said that the
band will be writing
new material
before long.

VINTAGE BLUES
The second announcement for next year’s Byron
Bay Bluesfest has dropped with British proggiants Jethro Tull a surprise inclusion, Texan rock
kings ZZ Top, pictured, a not so surprising addition
while funk and soul legends like Irma Thomas,
The Funky Meters and Booker T all beef up the
bill considerably. Reggae masters Toots and the
Maytals, Latin blues favourites Los Lobos, modern
day soul crooner John Legend, Tim Robbins and
The Rogues Gallery Band (aka High Fidelity’s Ian
“what fucking Ian guy?!?!” Raymond), Trombone
Shorty & Orleans Avenue, B.B. & the Blues
Shack, Joe Louis Walker and Barrence Whitfield
round out the international contingent. On the
local front the announce is honestly almost as big;
Gurrumul plays an exclusive performance, Kasey
Chambers, Pete Murray and Wolfmother are the
big young guns while Captain Matchbox Whoopee
Band, The Dingoes and Phil Jones & the
Unknown Blues will be bringing back memories
for many. Diesel, The Snowdroppers, Ray Beadle
and Nat Col & the Kings cap off another huge
announcement. The festival hits Tyagarah Tea Tree
Farm Thursday Apr 21 through to Monday Apr 25.

OH WHAT A FEELING
There’s no hiding from the fact that he was an odd choice
of act to perform at the AFL Grand Final (to say the least),
but that doesn’t change the fact that Lionel Richie is
one of contemporary music’s most cherished artists. His
beginnings with 70s funkateers The Commodores were
auspicious, but it was when he started releasing solo
albums in the 1980s that he really shot to the highest
echelons of fame. The master of song is returning to
Australia next year to bring you to your knees with his
messages of love and will be performing at the Brisbane
Entertainment Centre on Friday Mar 25. Support comes
from none other than Guy Sebastian and tickets
are on sale from Ticketek from Tuesday morning.

ENTER THE FOLDS

SUITABLE LOCATION
Dream popsters Beach House are without a doubt one of the most highly
anticipated acts on the bill for the 2011 Laneway Festival and, as such, one of the
acts many people around town are saddened about not being able to see at their
own club show. Well wipe away those tears, the duo have just announced that
they will be playing a special show in the suitably beachy town of Mullumbimby
on the New South Wales north coast. The band are riding high on the outstanding
success of their latest record Teen Dream and those who have seen the band on
past visits will move mountains to make it to see the band at the Mullumbimby Civic
Hall on Saturday Jan 22. Support comes from incredibly popular locals The Middle
East and New Zealand’s Tiny Ruins. Ticket are available from OzTix right now.

14

It’s been a while since we were treated to a tour from
Ben Folds, which is kind of surprising given his close
connection with our country. But on the back of his new
record Lonely Avenue – which was a collaboration with
acclaimed author Nick Hornby – Folds will return to our
country to sit down at the piano and take us through
songs from the record as well as plenty of tunes from
his vast back catalogue, including tunes from his much
loved Ben Folds Five, the band that initially shot him
to stardom all over the world, as well as solo material.
His live shows are constantly raved about so you won’t
want to miss your opportunity to catch him live in the
flesh at the QPAC Concert Hall on Tuesday May 17.
Tickets are available from Qtix from Tuesday morning.

Mick Hucknall of
Simply Red has
apologised to the
1000 women he
slept with during the
band’s heyday in the
1980s. We await the
apology to the entire
world, who have
had to deal with the
mental image of Mick
Hucknall having sex.

MOOD INDIGO
With over 12 million album sales, seven Grammy
nominations and over 20 years in the game, the Indigo
Girls are one of modern folk music’s most popular
acts. They have a new live double-album called Staring
Down The Brilliant Dream out now, featuring 31 songs
handpicked by the duo from their live shows between
2006 and 2009. The record has all of those gorgeous
harmonies and thought-provoking lyrics that their fans
know and love and is a must for any fan’s collection. They
were announced for Bluesfest a couple of weeks back
and now they’ve also announced a sideshow at QPAC on
Tuesday Apr 26. Grab your tickets from Qtix right now.

NO MORE MUTANTS
Sadly the legendary Brazilian psych rock outfit Os
Mutantes have been forced to cancel their Brisbane
show that was set to take place at The Tivoli on
Tuesday Mar 8. Full refunds are available now.

According to Britney
Spears, her new
record will be out in
March of next year.
Peter Buck has
revealed that Patti
Smith named the
new R.E.M. album
Collapse Into Now.
The official weight of
the cannabis Willie
Nelson was busted
with has come up at
four ounces, which
is only enough to
be charged as a
misdemeanour. Had
he been carrying
six ounce, as was
estimated last
week, it would have
been a felony.
The Living End’s
Chris Cheney along
with wife Emma,
manager Rae Harvey
and her partner,
record producer
Woody Annison,
have opened Red
Door Sounds, a new
recording studio
in Melbourne.
Gossip website TMZ
falsely reported
that Kurtis Blow
was arrested for
cannabis possession
last week.
The People’s Key
is the name of the
first Bright Eyes
album since 2007’s
Cassadaga. It will
be released in
February next year.

THAT SPARK IS BACK
Sparkadia are well and truly back in the saddle
after spending the majority of this year holed up
over in Europe and they are pleased to let you
all know that their brand new record The Great
Impression is all set for release on Friday Mar 18.
The band made a solid return to the live scene as
they headed out with Little Red a couple of months
ago and now, in support of the new record, they’re
going to chalk up plenty more miles as they dash
around the country with some particularly esteemed
company in tow. Gold Coast young adults Operator
Please will head along as the main support act
while Melbourne up-and-comers Alpines will
open things up. These three bands will play the
Coolangatta Hotel Thursday Apr 7 and The Hi-Fi
Friday Apr 8. Tickets are available from OzTix now!

PRE PARTY WITH DJ FISH 6-8PM
POST PARTY WITH DJ FISH 1AM-5AM
FROM 6PM TILL 5AM
FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT

15

IN BRIEF
Pete Doherty
has admitted he
might seek former
Libertines band
mate Carl Barat’s
advice for his new
Babyshambles
songs.

PURRFECT POWER
For the second summer in a row Australian
audiences will be treated to performances from
the incomparable Cat Power as leading lady Chan
Marshall continues what has become quite a love
affair with our country. Marshall is currently in the
midst of making her new record, which will be her
tenth, so when she’s out here early next year you
would imagine she’ll have plenty of exciting new
music to go alongside all of her fantastic previouslyreleased material. Once again she’ll be flanked
by drummer Judah Bauer and guitarist Jim White
– which, in itself, is a good reason to attend – and
we’ve no doubt the shows will be as beautiful as
they are intriguing. Cat Power plays the Brisbane
Powerhouse Friday Jan 28 and the Coolangatta
Hotel Saturday Jan 29; tickets are available from
the venues or OzTix for the Coolangatta show.

LATE BLOOMER
Twenty years of worldwide success and acclaim ought
to be enough to convince you that Irish singer-songwriter
Luka Bloom is a very special artist, but if it’s not then
we highly recommend going to see him perform live.
His records have been much loved by audiences all over
the globe, but one cannot truly understand his genius
completely without witnessing his transcendent live
shows that have had Australian audiences in awe each
and every time he has visited. He’s just released his
latest album Dreams In America and to celebrate he has
booked himself a couple of months in Australia – he
has been quoted as saying that he spends two months
of every 24 in Australia and 22 waiting to return. He
plays The Tivoli Friday Apr 1 and Joe’s Waterhole,
Eumundi Saturday Apr 2. Tickets are on sale now.

Justin ‘Beebs’
Bieber has cancelled
his appearance on
a German TV show
after a contestant
was seriously injured
while attempting to
somersault over five
cars using springpowered stilts.
Susan Boyle
completely screwed
up her performance
on talk show The
View, stopping
halfway through
claiming she had a
‘frog in her throat’.
It has been reported
that Prince Harry
has enlisted Snoop
Dogg and Tinie
Tempah to perform
at his brother’s
bachelor party.
Harry Wayne Casey –
aka K.C. of K.C. and
the Sunshine Band
fame – has accused
the Black Eyed Peas
of ripping off his
classic tune Give It
Up on their new track
Love You Long Time.

HAD TO RETURN
They sold the fuck out of their show up here just a couple of weeks ago, so Shihad
have wasted absolutely no time in making their way back up here to give those
who missed out another chance to see them in action. For well over a decade
these Kiwis have been regarded as one of the most exciting live bands going
and not much has changed in that regard. Of course their music has become
incredibly diverse over the years, no album is ever the same as the last and that’s
just the way they like it. They head up here to play Byron Bay’s Great Northern
Hotel on Wednesday Jan 5, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden Thursday Jan 6, Villa
Noosa Hotel Friday Jan 7 and The Zoo Saturday Jan 8. Gold Coast heavy hitters
Electric Horse and Helm will be there in support and you can grab yourself a
ticket from the venues, outlets and OzTix right now. Don’t miss out again!

ALL SIZES WELCOME
He’s long been considered one of the finest songwriters of our generation, in
fact many of the biggest names in contemporary music sing his praises, and
now Randy Newman is coming to Australia for the very first time to show us the
wide scope of his career as an artist. Since his second album, the enormously
well received 12 Songs, Newman has been held in the absolute highest regard
as an irreverent and satirical songwriting master, but also, more recently, he
has been considered one of the finest film music composers of our time, with a
whopping 17 Oscar nominations. Newman is heading to Brisbane to play a show
at QPAC with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra on Friday Jul 22. Tickets
are available through Qtix right now, they begin at $45 and go up to $109.

TEARS IN HEAVEN
Carlos Santana remains one of the biggest names in the guitar world these days,
just as he has been since the release of the first Santana album back in 1969.
He’s still hard at it, his latest record Guitar Heaven matching him up with some of
the world’s most famous vocalists to run through some of the most iconic guitar
tunes of all time – an intriguing concept but one that his legion of dedicated fans
have lapped up. It has been a couple of years since he last visited us, so you can
bet there are plenty of people very excited to hear of his return early next year.
He will drop by the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday Mar 24 to dazzle
all and sundry and tickets are available from Ticketek as of Thursday morning.

VIBE LIFTS
The line-up for the Good Vibrations festival set to hit the country early next year
is undoubtedly a monstrous one and now it has just gotten even better. British
duo The Ting Tings made massive waves in Australia with the release of their
debut album We Started Nothing and particularly their earworm hit That’s Not
My Name, which was a massive radio hit upon its release. The band were forced
to cancel their visit to Australia scheduled for mid-2010 but have made up for
that with the announcement that they’ll join the Good Vibes road show through
February 2011. Catch them at the Gold Coast Parklands on Saturday Feb 19.

WE GOT THE FEVER
If you don’t know who Justin Bieber is then you
really need to start paying more attention to, well,
the world in general. This teen icon has kids all
over the world in hysterics thanks to his infectious
pop hooks, heartfelt lyrics and ingenuous charm
and he’s about to bring the whole package to
Australia. The 16-year-old Canadian wunderkind
has just released My Worlds: The Collection, which
comprises of an acoustic album as well as his My
World EP and My World 2.0 album and is sure to
sell a truckload of copies this festive season. You
can see the young fella ripping it up at the Brisbane
Entertainment Centre on Tuesday Apr 26, tickets
are on sale from Ticketek from Monday morning
from $65 up to $95. The show is strictly 18+.
LOL just joking, settle down you little weirdos.

THE EFFECT OF SUMMER
You may well have seen its members around town in various different projects over the past couple of months, but now that summer is here, it is once again
time for The Butterfly Effect to come out of hibernation and kick some arse like only their modern rocking selves can do. The Summer Lovin’ tour will see
the band head to regional areas along the east coast, which basically sounds like a great excuse for them to go surfing. It’s also a great chance for you to
do the same as well as see this fantastic band while you’re at it and if you’re in our neck of the woods then you can catch them at Twin Towns Services Club
on Friday Dec 31 and the Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra Sunday Jan 2. If that’s not enough for you then perhaps news that After The Fall will be there in
support will be? The respective venues can sort you out with tickets or you can grab a ticket from OzTix for the Caloundra show if you so wish.

COPORATE
JACK IS BACK
Andrew McMahon is one talented gentleman. He’s
best known as the vivacious vocalist and pianist for
popular rock acts Something Corporate and Jack’s
Mannequin, but he’s recently turned his hand to
some solo material that has been received incredibly
well. In fact his last solo tour of his native US was
a complete sell-out. He is heading out to Australia
next year to treat his many fans out here to these
intimate performances, which have received rave
reviews just about completely across the board.
McMahon will play solo material as well as hits from
his two hugely successful bands and will do so at
The Hi-Fi on Thursday Feb 10. Tickets are on sale
from OzTix and the venue from Friday morning.

16

SEARCH NOT DESTROY

KELLY GANG

What’s with the police strip-searching patrons
at festivals? Some of the reports coming from
innocent people’s treatment at Stereosonic last
weekend have been disturbing in the extreme...
Seems the spectre of Joh is alive and well...

The four-night A To Z Show performance in
Brisbane by Paul Kelly and his nephew Dan
was absolutely stunning from go to whoa.
Here’s hoping they do it again soon...

LOUIS, LOUIS

DUST TO DUST
It’s going to take an amazing turnaround to
regain The Ashes after the ignominy of the last
couple of tests. Lift your game Aussies...

The new TV project by US comedian Louis CK – simply
titled Louis – kicked off on cable last week and is
(so far) one of the funniest things to hit the small
screen in ages. We hear it gets weird… Bring it on.

OPRAH AND OUT

PSYCH WAR

What the fuck has prompted this recent obsession
with Oprah? Please let her arrive soon so that she
can piss off back home and let us resume our lives...

The sad news that Os Mutantes canned their
Brisbane show was tempered by the news that
Black Mountain are coming back. Amazing
live band, the show is bound to be rad...
PAUL KELLY @ BRISBANE POWERHOUSE
BY STEPHEN BOOTH

GENDER BENDERS
The breezy and carefree tunes of San Franciscan indie outfit GIRLS pretty
much perfectly encapsulate their laid-back approach to the whole music caper.
Frontman and songwriter CHRISTOPHER OWENS tells STEVE BELL
why their success to date hasn’t stopped them from staying grounded.

I

f only all bands’ career paths were so interesting.
Christopher Owens, born in Florida, is raised
as a member of the religious cult Children Of
God – the same sect where River Phoenix and his
siblings experienced their formative years – and
lives a transient and often impoverished childhood,
spending his youth traversing dozens of countries
throughout Europe and Asia before escaping the
community whilst still a teenager and moving to
Amarillo, Texas to live with his older sister – a
strange place indeed to become accustomed to
the outside world. After a few hedonistic years in
Texas, Owens hitches to California with a friend and
immerses himself in the local punk scene. He joins
Ariel Pink’s outfit Holy Shit as a guitarist and tours
with them back to Europe, staying with the band
until their eventual implosion a short time later.
By then Owens – who despite not being exposed
to much music in his youth, except that written

by fellow cult members, had long been fascinated with the art
form – had started writing his own songs, and when he befriended
producer/bassist Chet “JR” White in his adopted town of San
Francisco the seeds of the pair’s band Girls were sown. Utilising their
complementary skills they recorded some songs together, chucked
them up on MySpace and the reaction from the online community
was instantaneous. Cue a record deal, the release of their acclaimed
2009 debut long-player Album, some massive international support
slots and now – on the back of their excellent new EP Broken Dreams
Club – Girls are finally making their way to Australian shores.
“It’s wonderful. It’s like a dream come true for us,” Owens
marvels of the band’s rapid rise in fortunes. “It’s been really
amazing the past year, we’ve gotten to do a lot of things that
we never imagined that we’d get to do, so we’re all really
happy and excited. We really want it to keep going.
“When we first started recording before we were even a band
we didn’t really expect much – we were just kind of doing it for
ourselves. But as soon as we started putting recordings out the
reaction was pretty good all around the world, so we kind of had
an idea that this was going to be a fairly extensive project. It kinda
makes sense to us, because we try to play music that people
would want to listen to. I guess if you’d told us two years ago what
lay in store for us we would have been pretty surprised, but once
you start putting things on the Internet you can kind of judge the
reactions pretty well, and it came pretty obvious pretty quickly that
this was going to be something that people connected with.”
Despite its relative brevity Broken Dreams Club is a
perfect expansion of Album’s diverse brew of trippy,
sun-drenched sounds, the pair’s preference being unabashed
pop with an esoteric and inherently DIY bent.
“We just didn’t have much time to record last year because we were
touring,” Owens explains of the abridged nature of the new release, “so
we just tried to get as much done as we could and we ended up with a
six song record, and we just wanted to put it out. We’re going to record
the next album after these shows in Australia, but we didn’t want to
wait too much longer. We just wanted to put out as much as we could,
and we ended up with the EP, so we thought it was a good thing to do.”
While Owens writes all of the band’s material, his creative partnership
with JR is integral to the band’s recorded sound and aesthetic.
“He produces all of the music, so it’s important for me to have
somebody that I can communicate easily with and tell them what I’m
trying to go for, and he knows how to record it,” Owens continues.
“It works for us – I don’t know how to record it myself, so I need
having somebody around who does. And it means that we can get
it done without having outside producers or engineers get involved,
we can just do it all ourselves. It’s a good way for us to work.
“We’ve always played live with a full band – you can’t really play that
much with just two people – but when we first started recording we
didn’t have a band yet, so we just recorded the album ourselves.
Then the band came after we sort of had the demand for touring and
stuff like that, so we just put together a band made up of friends of
ours who played music here [in San Francisco]. They’ve played on
the EP now, so we’re trying to mould it into more of a ‘real’ band.”
According to Owens the fact that Girls’ songs traverse so
much musical and stylistic terrain is due to their broad music
tastes rather than any specific desire to be eclectic.
“We’ve always just wanted to do a lot of different styles – we don’t
really have one sound as a band,” he offers. “We feel like each
song is really different from the next, so we just sort of approach
it on a song to song basis, and we don’t always go through the
same approach with each song. At the end of the day we end up
having a lot of different styles on the record and I think that makes it
interesting. It’s also more fun for us to try all those different sounds.
“[Our taste] is really diverse – we listen to a bit of everything.
We listen to anything that’s on the radio, or our friends’
bands – all kinds of stuff. We’re not really into one type of
music or one scene – we’ll listen to anything that’s good. All
kinds of different things. If music’s good then we like it.”
The frontman’s unconventional upbringing didn’t allow much
exposure to popular culture, and this experience has partially
informed how he writes and appreciates music to this day.
“I think maybe a little bit,” he muses. “It kind of gives me a
simple style. I think the stuff that you grow up with probably
subconsciously effects the way you write. I listened to a lot of
pretty simple classic music. I think it’s still something that affects
me, but then sonically we have a lot of current influences, so
we try and mix it all up together. The basics of the songs are all
pretty simple – almost country music or something like that.”
Even though the world at large has become rapidly enamoured
with Girls’ summer-tinged sound, Owens doubts that the success
will affect the band’s relatively carefree attitude to their craft.
“No, because we’re doing what we want to do,” he reflects.
“We’ve always just made the songs that we want to play and
the songs that we like, and I think it’s just worked out that
it’s happened to be something that other people like. It hasn’t
changed at all really our approach, it’s just encouraged us to keep
going and sort of enabled us to do it on a grander scale. We’re
totally happy with how things are going, so why change it?”

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
MARK E. SMITH has a reputation for being somewhat cantankerous,
but on the eve of his band THE FALL’s first Australian sojourn in 20
years he surprises TONY McMAHON with his affability, as well as
his admission that he’s a fan of his own band but not his hometown.

V

enerable is one way – possibly the only way – to describe
Mark E. Smith and The Fall. Emerging from the mid-70s
Manchester punk scene alongside contemporaries
Joy Division and The Buzzcocks, like a magnificent weed in an
abandoned parking lot, this most lauded and long-lasting of musical
experiments has gone on to record 28 studio albums and tour the
world incessantly. The driving force behind The Fall has always
been Smith, the only original remaining member, and, as the man
himself puts it ‘if it’s me and your gran on bongos, it’s The Fall’.

The group’s latest outing is a double album, Your Future Our
Clutter, which is as urgent and interesting anything Smith has
done in the past decade, proving beyond doubt that, despite their
longevity, The Fall are still a group to be reckoned with. With a
reputation as a prickly interview subject, often of questionable
sobriety, Time Off approaches this chat with the utmost caution.
But Smith is matey, polite, sober-sounding and engaged. What’s
more, he’s quite impressed that Time Off has managed to purchase
his new record on vinyl, something he can directly relate to.

Naturally, though, Time Off can’t resist
pressing just a little further. A film script?

Smith has turned his hand in the past to spoken
word recording and writing for the stage.
Might we see more of this in the future?
“I’ve got something on the go that’s not quite any
of those things but similar. I don’t want to give
too much away so I might just leave it there.”

“You might be getting warm.”

WHO: The Fall
WHERE & WHEN: The Hi-Fi
Thursday Dec 9

“Yeah, it’s come out well, I think. And you can get it on
vinyl, that’s fucking good ain’t it? You’re doing well to have
got it, though; I only got it a couple of weeks ago myself.
A box turned up about two weeks ago, but before that,
I had to go out and fucking buy it. Bit rough, that.”
Given he’s been doing it for so long now, it feels important to ask
Smith how he goes about approaching a new record. Does he
feel like a time comes when he has enough material? Or does he
just get itchy feet and decide it’s time to record again? It seems
like it’s none of these things, and that The Fall’s gargantuan
output has more to do with Smith’s incredible work ethic.
“The last LP, to me it took a long time, getting it to certain standard,”
he offers. “And I wanted to strike while the group was in form.
I mean, if I had my way now, I’d start recording another album
right away, but you can’t really do that. And I don’t really look at
it like this is my 25th LP or anything like that. It’s more like it’s
something I should do while I can do it. I always think the last one
is the best one. I might be deluded sometimes, but I do think that.
“I don’t listen to them a lot to be honest. I’m a bit of a Fall
fan, if you know what I mean; I just listen to them like it’s
another group. I like Shift-Work, that always surprises me.
I think that’s better than I thought it was at the time.”
When asked about 1980’s Grotesque, Smith agrees
it’s a notable work that continues to be relevant.
“Yeah, that’s a good one, still stands up well all these years later. It’s
funny, it might be the vinyl reissues or something, but there’s a lot of
15 and 16 year olds telling me they’re into that album, it’s weird.”
Given The Fall are a group conspicuously from Manchester,
as well as the fact that Smith has lived there all his life,
does he feel like the city has influenced his writing?
“Well, I’m more Salford than Manchester,” he explains. “Every
fucking group in the world seems to come from Manchester these
days. But I suppose so, yeah. But I think it has to be said, even
though I live in Manchester, I’m not the greatest fan of it, I really
don’t like it very much, you know, but it must have done, yeah.”
In Smith’s autobiography Renegade, he wrote that he disliked
Australia when The Fall visited in 1982. But Smith says that this
has nothing to do with why he hasn’t been here for 20 years.
Rather, it’s about his new line-up being up to the task.
“No I don’t think so, I don’t think so at all actually,” he muses.
“The last group before this one, I don’t think they’d have been
up to it, to be honest. I mean, I go into it in the book, don’t I? It
starts off in the fucking desert in Texas and they’re all falling
to bits. A lot of groups are like kids in an ice cream shop when
they go on tour. I remember last time we were in Australia; I just
stayed in a bed and breakfast and organised the shows. I’d had
enough of the lot of them. But this group can handle it, know
what I mean? I think you can hear that on the album, too.”
When he does get here, Smith says choosing tracks
to play from his vast back catalogue is not going to be
much of an issue. There is, however, new technology
involved that he finds more than a little confounding.
“It’s funny because we’re doing one or two songs that are from
1979 and 1980 when the group were on form, and it’s working
well,” he admits. “I don’t usually go in for that much myself,
only about a quarter of the set is older than the last couple
of years. We do Psychic Dancehall live now. That’s 1979, you
know? Nowadays, they’ve got these contraptions, the rest of
the group, they’re called a Shazzam or something, you just
name a song and they can play it. They’ve got more access
to Fall stuff than I have. They’ve got things I can’t find in the
house. I said, ‘Well I bet it hasn’t got like Luke Perking from
1955 doing a rockabilly song!’ and it fucking did have it.”
The Fall are also playing The Meredith Musical festival on this trip:
country Victoria, pissing down with rain and hippies everywhere,
not normally the kind of gig associated with this band. Smith has
been forewarned, however, and seems somewhat resigned.
“That’s what the wife – sorry my wife – that’s what my wife
said, she said it looked a bit Glastonbury-like,” he sighs. “It’ll
be all right, I suppose, but I’m still a club man at heart.”
So, what about the future for The Fall? Does
Smith have another ten albums in him?

21

PURE VITALITY
Aussie rock legends HOODOO GURUS have proven time and time again
that age has not wearied them. As they prepare for another jaunt around the
country, frontman DAVE FAULKNER tells DAN CONDON it’s pure
passion that keeps them going.

S

o far this year they’ve released their ninth
studio album Purity Of Essence, embarked
on tours of Australia, the USA and Europe
and they’re not done yet. For a band that has been
kicking around for what is awfully close to 30 years
now, Hoodoo Gurus still make a pretty good fist
of the touring lifestyle. Dave Faulkner calls from
Perth where he has been involved in a songwriting
workshop with Lucky Oceans and generally
enjoying a miniscule amount of time off the road.
“We’ve only had a couple of weeks off to be honest;
it has been just a little interruption to what has
been a very long year of work,” Faulkner says in his
most chipper and relaxed manner. But he’s keen
to get out on the road again to finish off the year’s
commitments. “We’re playing really well and also
I know that the sooner it starts the sooner I can
get off the road and relax again. You never really
fully let yourself down into relax mode while you’re

in the middle of touring; after Christmas is when I’m going to start
letting off steam, but for now I’m always kind of semi-focused.”
The band visited the US and Europe earlier in the year and Faulkner
was blown away by the response of some of their fans.
“We had a lot of great shows,” he tells. “We played places we haven’t
done before. Valencia in Spain was a city I had very little idea about
but I was blown away, it was an incredible reaction and we had
devoted fans there. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and we played
great. The thing about doing tours like that is that you get so much
into a groove that we’re really taking no prisoners now as far as
going on stage, we’re just really tight and tough, battle hardened.”
Not that we’d ever expect anything but the best from Hoodoo Gurus
in the live arena. Each member of the band is either in or approaching
their 50s, but their onstage performances mirror that of the most
passionate and dynamic of teenage punks. They do not leave the stage
having given any less than their all and Faulkner says they never will.
“We pride ourselves on the fact that we do put in,” Faulkner
affirms. “That’s just how the music is for us. I mean, I can’t sing
in half measures, Mark Kingsmill cannot drum in half measures
and Brad [Shepherd – guitar] of course...” Faulkner bursts into
laughter, “he just wants to go out there and let loose and Rick
[Grossman – bass] is the same. That’s just how we express
ourselves and when we can’t do that you won’t be seeing us, but
while you’re seeing us you won’t see any half measures from us.”
The band want to play as much from their new record as they can.
But, as with any act of the Gurus’ prestige, fans itch for older material.
Faulkner admits finding the balance between songs the band are most
excited about and those that get the crowd going is very difficult.

“We pride ourselves on the fact
that we do put in. That’s just how
the music is for us.”
“It’s quite tough,” he says. “We’ve had to leave out a couple of the
more well-known songs from time to time now because we just
don’t have the ability to shoehorn them all together into one set. We
don’t do the two-and-a-half hour Bruce Springsteen show with one
hour of chat. We probably do as many songs as he does but it just
takes an hour-and-a-quarter! But it is hard to cover all bases, so
we don’t really try to do that, we just hope that the energy and the
spirit of what is there is enough to make people realise they saw
something real and exciting. There’s always going to be a song that
someone was desperate to hear us play and we just didn’t do it.
“It was funny, last night I was doing this thing at the Fremantle Arts
Centre and someone asked me why we never play Castles In The
Air – there’s this sort of rumbling between fans about this song in
particular at the moment – but, you know, it’s hard to put that one in
because it’s a ballad and there are some other ballads that are almost
compulsory performances like Bittersweet and 1000 Miles Away. It’s
hard to get everything in there but now and again we’ll chuck them in
and hope that we happen to strike the right night when people hear
that obscure song that they wanted to hear and it will find its mark.“
Purity Of Essence has been out for over half a year now and
Faulkner is still awfully proud of how the record has turned out.
“I couldn’t be happier, I think it’s fantastic,” he shoots without
thought. “I love everything about it and there’s nothing
that I regret at all. Give me a couple of years and I’ll start
picking holes in it – you always do – but I’m very happy. I
think it’s a great album and one I’m really proud of.”
Given the record was the band’s first in six years, one wonders
whether going through all the motions that go along with releasing
an album becomes more difficult after such an extended period
of time since doing so. Faulkner says that the old perils of
procrastination and panic were his two biggest enemies.

DECEMBER
13
birdee num num, the valley
tH

“The actual putting out the record wasn’t hard but getting me to
that starting gate was the problem,” he says. “I was procrastinating
and I was panicked about the fact that I didn’t think I had the
material, which I’ve always had with every record, I’ve had that
same dilemma. Because of the way I work, I don’t write a song a
day and finish them off and have them neatly stored away ready
to go, I assemble sketches and fragments of material; it’s sort
of random and I lose track of what I’ve got and it’s not until I
force myself to sit down to write that I gather all these things and
start forensically going through them and classifying them.”
The record took a little longer to come out than many fans,
and indeed the band themselves, had anticipated. Initially
the sound of the record wasn’t up to the standard that the
band wanted and as such it required a full remix.

*RSVP does not guarantee
entry, so arrive early to
secure your spot. Must be
over 18+ to attend.

“The last three albums that I’ve been involved with have unfortunately
had to be mixed twice,” Faulkner sighs. “[2004 album] Mach Schau
we mixed twice and also the Persian Rugs album. It’s not a habit I’d
like to get into, it seems to be one at the moment, but it’s been for
different reasons each time, combinations of influences and factors
that just conspired to make the remix important. In this particular
case it was a lifesaver really, the album was brilliant until we got
up to the mix and then it all fell apart; the particular acoustics
of the room we were in we just couldn’t come to grips with.”

WHO: Hoodoo Gurus
WHERE & WHEN: The Hi-Fi Saturday Dec 11
22

WELL-OILED MACHINE
Amidst rumours of their record label rejecting the follow-up to their debut
Myths Of The Near Future, KLAXONS’ guitarist SIMON TAYLER-DAVIS
explains the hefty gap between albums one and two to BEN PREECE.

U

pon their inception three years ago with a much-buzzed debut
entitled Myths Of The Near Future, Klaxons were quick to be
dubbed the saviours of the new rave scene by the English
music press, with the rest of the world quickly following. Tracks like
Gravity’s Rainbow, Golden Skans and Atlantis To Interzone went on
to become hits and the band walked away with armfuls of awards
including the coveted Mercury Music Prize. But after the sirens died
down, there seemed to be a silence that perhaps, for most fans and
music followers, seemed to go on a little too long. Rumours quickly
circulated the net that the band’s record label, Polydor, had promptly
rejected material the band had intended to be record number two.
While the band was in Australia for promotional duties for their
long-awaited second album, Surfing The Void, guitarist Simon
Taylor-Davis puts the rumour-mill in its place once and for all.
“I think everyone thought we had a bit of turbulence putting out this
record,” he explains. “Yes it seems to have been reported that way but,
no, we had the time of our lives writing and recording the record – we
had an amazing time. I guess the main obstacle was just touring – we
were touring until about this time last year so by the time we had a
couple of days off and a bit of time at home it was 2010. It wasn’t really
turbulence, we just had to go everywhere and then we had to go back
everywhere again and again.

adorned those initial shows and suggests
that things are very different these days.
“We can play now,” he suggests cheekily. “We’ve
accidentally learned to be a really good live band
now. We have an additional member who plays
another keyboard so we’ve been absolutely on
fire. We’ve really got it tuned in and dialled in now
and everyone around us is saying they’ve never
seen us play this good before. This record was
written as a live band so translating it has been
really easy and it really has been just fun to play.
I guess we’re just a well-oiled machine now.”

“Obviously his British sarcasm didn’t
translate and some copycat stories
about our album being rejected is
all we seem to talk about now.”
“There are stories but the label didn’t reject anything. I guess it’s quite
sad because we have the most amazing relationship with Polydor ever
– it’s why we signed to them. Not to sound like a dick, but we didn’t
just have one offer and we had a hell of a decision to make sure all
the people we were working with were super cool and that we could
bond with them. Jamie [Reynolds – vocals/bass] had some interview
and he was saying, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, Polydor are going to reject our
album because we gave them some music and then they went away at
Christmas and we didn’t hear back from anyone for a while’. Obviously
his British sarcasm didn’t really translate and some copycat stories
about our album being rejected is all we seem to talk about now.”
Myths Of The Near Future set the bar high for Klaxons, quickly
sending tastemakers and bloggers scrambling to their keyboards
and making them one of the hottest things on the planet at that
point in time. Working in Los Angeles with producer Ross Robinson
(Sepultura, Slipknot, At the Drive-In, The Cure), the band steered
their sound away from the blatant new rave sounds they’d crafted
previously and headed more into out-of-this-world rock. The
result is Surfing The Void, a record that takes cues from Muse,
Blur and The KLF and smashes them into one unique rock-pie.
“I guess it was only the beginning phases of writing this record
that I began to have any objectivity of Myths... and see it for what
it was: this stupid bunch of bratty, gobby kids thinking they know
it all, name-dropping every weirdo author they could. I guess we
wanted this one to be a bit more considered. It’s not as immediate
– it’s a bit more dense – but we didn’t go into it with any specific
mission statement. It kind of started breathing its own language
and it formed quite a personal-sounding record – the difference
is the last one was outer-space and this one is a bit more innerspace, it’s personal and the lyrics are more linear and there are
love songs on this record which didn’t happen on the last one.
“I guess we just wanted to make a continuation of the last one,”
Taylor-Davis explains carefully. “It’s not a radical departure, certainly
not with the equipment and the way we recorded – it was very
similar – but the main difference would have to be Steffan [Halperin
– drums] because we didn’t have a drummer on the last record
and I think a lot of people have said that this record is a lot more
rock. I think that illusion of rock is an energy that comes from the
drums. So being a four-piece is the big difference on this one. I think
we’ve fully blossomed as a rock outfit on this record, it probably
means we’ll reform as an acoustic act on the next one though.”
It might’ve been logical to head back into the studio with previous
producer James Ford, instead Klaxons chose the “godfather of
nu-metal” Ross Robinson to helm the sound on Surfing The Void.
“We’d recorded a couple of sessions, kinda squeezed them in, with
James Ford who we did our first record with,” Taylor-Davis says.
“We’d made some really beautiful music with him that will come out
hopefully not too long in the foreseeable future as an EP or some other
kind of stand-alone. We’re still very young as a band and, apart from
this year and being in the studio for Myths..., we really haven’t been in
the studio much so we went in and furiously just experimented with
writing techniques and stuff with James. At the end of it, we came to
the logical conclusion that we should all go our own separate ways
and it’d be beneficial for us creatively to work with different people –
by no means was it a falling out, he’s first and foremost a friend but
we needed to change it up a bit and ignite some excitement into it.
“We finished the work with James and there was this 48 hour limbo
where we thought, ‘What the fuck are we going to do?’ We didn’t
know any producers, we didn’t know any we were drawn to working
with. Then we got this phone call out of the blue from Coachella
festival asking us if we wanted to play and it just so happened that
the manager of that managed Ross Robinson also. He was a huge
fan of ours apparently and we were just gobsmacked that the guy
that produced At The Drive-In and Blood Brothers was into us.
We thought it could’ve been such a disaster or so brilliant – it’s
something that we are drawn to, just like when we originally did
the new rave thing, it could’ve really been an utter disaster.”
When Klaxons first toured Australia, reactions to their live
show were mixed. Taylor-Davis acknowledges the flaws that

23

HERE COMES THE SUN
BENNY DOYLE battles a crackling phone line across many bodies
of land and water to check in with SHOUT OUT LOUDS frontman
ADAM OLENIUS before their first Australian tour in far too long.

A

t home in his apartment in his native
Stockholm, Olenius is reflecting on the
good albeit all too brief summer in the
northern hemisphere. Summer is important to
the Swedes but fall is a beautiful time in his part
of the world also. The trees are transforming
into a myriad of colours and that crisp arctic air
makes your blood run and your body feel alive.

mid-noughties teen TV like The OC and One Tree Hill, the
band have toured extensively throughout the country.

“I love the seasons because it takes in the
different moods of the year which I really like,”
the softly spoken Olenius explains, “But we’re
looking forward to getting back to see Australia.
It’s the first time we’re playing festivals there
in summer so we are ridiculously excited.”

It’s unsurprising to hear that although Stockholm still
holds a special place in Olenius’ heart, the band have
taken their inspiration from a broader spectrum and in
doing so, seen their sound grow exponentially.

Shout Out Louds, the band Olenius fronts,
are now truly a global commodity, with four
different labels representing them across
the globe including local independent Dew
Process in our part of the world. Having broken
in the US through exposure on essential

“In the beginning we were more in the US than the UK or Europe,”
Olenius says. “Swedes at home, they weren’t disappointed but it
took us a little while to win them over because we were always away
and they didn’t know much about us. But the last album and this
one, we decided to play more festivals and more shows in Sweden.
So now the crowds are louder and they love us,” he chuckles.

“Stockholm will always be our home and recently it has been the
most fun city to play. It still inspires me as it’s where I grew up but it’s
really helpful that I can see so many other places in the world. I love
many things about Stockholm,” Olenius continues, “things that I still
hold on to when writing and touring but now it’s just not as sacred
to me. I have so many other things I can write about through other
things I see outside of Stockholm. Without trying too hard, I think
the band can come up with something special that keeps that local
sound and where we’re from but still allow us to find our own sound.”
After the gruelling worldwide touring schedule following their 2007
breakthrough second album Our Ill Will all the band members
decided to take a step away from the Shout Out Louds. This
resulted in a six month hiatus that saw the members strewn
between Los Angeles, Stockholm and Melbourne. Olenius was
the sole member that found his way down under during that time
and considers the experience invigorating and invaluable.
“I think it was great to leave everything behind back home; the band,
friends and family. I just needed time off from everything, just a
totally clean schedule,” he admits. “It was great for summer and also
because my girlfriend was studying there [Melbourne] so I had the
days by myself to record and try out new ideas. At the time it worked
being a bit more isolated from everything. There were things that
happened and that I saw which came into the lyrics [of third album
Work] during that time. I think the main help and inspiration was
being away from everything. I really like that city. If it wasn’t so far
away from home I might consider living there for a longer period.”
But although each band member was enjoying their own
personal solitude, the band was never exactly on hiatus. In
fact, it didn’t take long at all before the creative juices began
flowing again – all it took was some breathing space.
“After a few months I sent a few songs. Actually, the first
song I sent was Walls [Work’s first single] then I sent another
song as well quickly after,” Olenius says. “We’d just finished
a tour in Brazil then we went home before going our separate
ways. We didn’t speak to each other for a few weeks but then
emails started dropping in about ideas and different things
people saw during their travels that they would like to add. It
was great; we began discussing ideas and fun things to do on
the next tour but we needed a few weeks in total silence.
“I mean, we get along really well as we are all friends from
school and we still feel like those young kids. I just think when
you’re forced into a full touring schedule you don’t become
tired of each other, you’re maybe just tired of not being
individual and not being able to pursue your own stuff.”
Having been roughly three years since Shout Out Louds
hit out shores as a band, Olenius explains what the band
is looking forward to experiencing this time round.
“We’re really looking forward to doing some festivals because we
have never done that in Australia and this will be our first New Years
shows also. We always have time off during that time of year, we say
that New Years and Christmas are sacred – no gigs. Because we tour
a lot through the year everyone is home for Christmas and New Years
with their families. I think this is our first time away from that which
is a big deal. I have quite a big family and we love to drink and eat
on Christmas but normally New Years is quite overrated, I’m looking
forward to being onstage rather than a boring party somewhere.”
And what a stage they will be on. The No Years! New Years Eve
festival will see them hitting the Brisbane Powerhouse with acts
such as The John Steel Singers, Jonathan Boulet and Parades.

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December 1

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24

“Someone, I can’t remember if it was a label or our manager,
but they said it was quite a beautiful location,” Olenius says
excitedly. “Lately though, I really just want to take every
opportunity to play. We’re picky with what little things we do,
but we want to take this opportunity to see the world and play.
We’re going to have five days off after the Melbourne show
so I’ll maybe travel around for a few days but unfortunately
it’s the wrong season to go up to the Barrier Reef right?”
The good news for Olenius is that if he and the band want to hit the
reef for some underwater activities, stingers are really only a problem
on the coastline, not the reef. Aware that they are indeed on the bill
for Pyramid Rock out at Victoria’s Phillip Island, it’s further suggested
to check out the offensively cute penguin parade whilst in the area.
“I was on my way out there when I was down but I don’t know what
happened, I ran out of time,” Olenius regrets. “I actually like wine
a lot so maybe I’ll go on some tour with old ladies and drink some
wine! I dunno. I always spend a lot of time in Melbourne so I’m
looking forward to seeing something else, going to the beach and
doing nothing. I’m not really looking forward to the dark winter when
I come home so I’m going to take the opportunity to see the sun.”

WHO: Shout Out Louds
WHERE & WHEN: No Years! @

Brisbane Powerhouse, Friday Dec 31

25

ROCK FISHING

MICK BLOOD, frontman for legendary garage heroes LIME SPIDERS
regales BENNY DOYLE with talk of fresh musical possibilities from the
band and finding out that one of his heroes is just another dude.
children and businesses, its hard to get together at all
let own get together long enough to write new songs,
rehearse then record them. It’s easier if you’re living
in the same city so, I dunno. Hopefully yes, we’re all
up for it I think, it’s just a matter of the logistics.”
Although seminal and influential, many would say
Lime Spiders were still underappreciated considering
their output. However this didn’t stop them from
making a lasting impact with both American
and European audiences over their career.

W

ith a recent move from Perth to the
Sunshine State all in the name of love,
Blood discusses the affinity Queensland
has had with Lime Spiders over the years.
“Our best audiences have always been Queensland
and Melbourne,” he enthuses. “Sydney’s going full
circle at the moment though. We got a full house
there just recently but over the years, Queensland and
especially the Gold Coast has been our biggest market
in Australia.” Blood isn’t too sure on the reasons behind
this but has a few ideas. “Certainly a lot of surfers have
always loved us. We’ve had a lot of legendary nights in
Coolangatta which is one of the reasons we’re trying it
again down there. I think the music we play, people get
off on the energy, see the positivity in the band and can
get out, have a bit of fun and just cut loose for a night.”
Lime Spiders haven’t released any original material
in roughly two decades. But after the success of
recent shows, the idea of fresh studio recordings
isn’t out of the question.
“We’ve got a guy involved with helping the band out at
the moment in Sydney and after a gig the other week,
he was very keen to get us to record another album,”
Blood explains. “One of our guitarists lives in the far
south coast of NSW and he’s got a state of the art studio
he’s built, so we’d be crazy if we don’t take advantage
of that. It really is a matter that everyone is so busy with

“I think we’re a very convincing act, we deliver the
goods consistently and particularly have a reputation
for our live performances,” Blood offers when
asked why they resonated to so many overseas.
“I think the hybrid we’ve created from the start,
there’s no one that sounds like us. We pretty much
combine pub music with 60s psychedelia and that’s
a weird mix. We’ve always had a big sound and I
guess my vocals are also a trademark. I’ve got a
pretty wild voice and that helped get us known.
There aren’t a lot of people who are as wild as
me out there,” Blood finishes with a laugh.
But through all the crazy times across the globe,
there’s still one encounter that stands out to Blood
as a complete ‘what the fuck’ type moment.
“In New York at the Cat Club, we were headlining
a college music showcase and backstage after
the gig, Iggy Pop and Joey Ramone walk in to say
g’day – our collective jaws dropped to the fl oor! But
I didn’t want to talk about music. I didn’t want to go
with the obvious thing. Luckily I’d read a profile on
his private life before I went to America on that tour
and realised he did a lot of fi shing which is the last
thing you’d expect from Iggy Pop. So I thought right,
I’m going there and asked ‘I hear you like fi shing
mate?’ And he goes, ‘How’d you know that man?’
And I said, ‘I’m a fan of you as a person.’ He just
grabbed me, hugged me and said ‘I knew you’d be
a dude!’ Then we just spoke about trout fi shing for
the next half hour, talking at length about lures!”

THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT have been redefining rockabilly
for 25 years. Ahead of the band’s latest Australian tour, MATT O’NEILL
catches up with main-man JIM HEATH to discuss the trio’s legacy.
I started this, I just had these rockabilly songs and,
in forming a rockabilly band, I was basically saying
goodbye to my dreams of being a rock star. I was just
going to go play rockabilly songs with my acoustic
guitar in pubs – and, you know, to have that spin
off into a career and tours and a major label record
signing...I never expected anything like that to happen.
“I realise it’s a blessing that Reverend Horton Heat has
got a sound. We’re quite lucky to have stumbled upon our
own way of doing things,” the guitarist elaborates. “We
started out in 1985 being more of a purist rockabilly band
but a significant part of Reverend Horton Heat comes
from my decision to merely use that retro-rockabilly
as a platform to branch off and do something else. If
we’re just in our rehearsal studio and a song sounds
like Spinal Tap, we’ll do a song like Spinal Tap.”

It’s incredibly easy to sell The Reverend Horton Heat
short – and it happens with alarming regularity. Arguably
the foremost rockabilly institution in the world for the
better part of their 25-year career, the Texan threepiece are consistently hailed for their blitzkrieg live
shows, punk-rock aggression and ceaseless devotion
to the art of having a good time. It’s even gotten to
the point where frontman Jim Heath has opted to
prioritise the frivolous aspect of the band’s identity.
“Reverend Horton Heat being what we are – the upright
bass, the big guitars, the zany rockabilly songs – I
didn’t want us to be a novelty band,” Heath says of the
decision. “Through the years, I’ve had these serious songs
mixed in with the funny, party songs. Quite honestly, I
think those songs would be among the best songs that
I’ve written but, eventually, I had this realisation that
the humorous stuff was what resonated with our fans
and just decided to stop doing the serious songs.”
None of which should ever be contested. Since their 1990
debut album Smoke Em If You Got Em, The Reverend
Horton Heat have done nothing if not excel at delivering
high-octane, frequently hilarious rockabilly to a number of
disparate audiences across the globe. The three-piece live
on an almost constant touring schedule and consistently
engross rockabilly and non-rockabilly enthusiasts
alike – releasing records through both legendary
independents (Sub Pop) and major labels (Interscope).
“I’m definitely surprised by the success we’ve had over
the years,” Heath reflects. “Mainly because, when

26

There has, however, always been more to the band than
frivolity and fun. The example most commonly cited is
Heath’s tendency to occasionally write quite sentimental
and evocative material (e.g. 2004’s Someone In Heaven,
concerning the passing of Heath’s mother) but, in honesty,
the most significant evidence comes from the astonishing
musicianship which has defined the trio’s entire evolution.
Heath has always maintained considerable pride
in the musicianship of his band and, beneath the
adrenaline and amusement, there lie three musicians
of unbelievable ability. Jim Heath, in particular, has
long been one of the most remarkable guitarists in
the world. Doubly so for the fact that, 25 years into a
career, the guitarist still shuns recidivism in favour of
becoming a better and more accomplished musician.
“I don’t actually like thinking about our anniversary
much,” Heath explains. “Even though it’s a long time,
I’m not at the point where I’m ready to sit around
looking back. You know, we tour irrespective of albums.
Playing live is what we do – making albums is just
like advertising. I’m still looking forward. There are a
hell of a lot of tricky jazz arpeggios and scales I need
to learn. I’m still trying to be a better guitarist, better
musician, better songwriter and better performer.”

WHO: The Reverend Horton Heat
WHERE & WHEN: The Hi-Fi Sunday Dec 12

27

BEYOND GENESIS

The work of TUJIKO NORIKO has flitted freely between countless
boundaries over the past ten years – pop and experimental, electronic
and acoustic. MATT O’NEILL catches up with the Japanese
expatriate ahead of her latest Australian tour.

HEAVY ASPIRATIONS
Brisbane metalcore band WISH FOR WINGS have just finished their
long-awaited second album Echoes, and to celebrate, they’re embarking
on an extensive Queensland tour. DANIEL JOHNSON speaks to
bassist AIDO SPINKS and guitarist AARON SPINKS.

“Working with Rick; we already had that sort of
relationship with him – being school buddies and
stuff – so I guess that’s important when you do go in
the studio. We were just straight in there and everyone
was really comfortable and the vibe was right.”

search for beauty, fun and excitement. I think in that
process of searching the experimentation takes place.”

I

t’s never been easy to categorise Tujiko Noriko.
While the Japanese (now France-based)
songstress has always possessed a wellarticulated and immediately identifiable aesthetic,
attempts to quantify that in print have always seemed,
at best, unrefined and, at worst, clumsy. The finesse
of albums like 2008’s Trust has consistently been lost
in hyperbolic proselytising and lazy references.
The best anyone’s ever been able to manage is a
functional description. Noriko’s work over the past ten
years has encompassed elements of electronic production,
acoustic instrumentation, pop songwriting, post-modern
deconstruction, experimental collaboration and avantgarde composition. Bearing in mind, such a list still falls
short of capturing the essence of the artist’s work.
“I’m fine with words like electronic and pop. They’re
just words people use around the music – it’s not
actually the music itself,” Noriko reflects of her
work. “Basically, it’s about making good things. I
wanted to make stuff that would bring joy – to me
and also to other people. I also wanted to discover
things. That’s why I continue to make work today.”
It’s the inherent warmth of Noriko’s work that
undercuts such reductive discussion. Throughout
her career, Noriko’s output has unified practices
commonly associated with intellectual experimentation
with the innate charisma and sentiment of populist
songwriting. Noriko’s output has effectively been
defined by the re-contextualisation of academic
sonic ideals within a personal musical vocabulary.
“I don’t know if I consider myself as experimental, but at
any levels of days and life, I like to experiment. And I like
people and things which have experimentation spirit,”
Noriko offers in response. “If not it’s boring isn’t it?
But not like an experiment to be experimental, just to

To this end, discussing Tujiko Noriko’s output in regards
to its stylistic components is largely irrelevant. While
Noriko does employ electronics within her work, her
songs do not recall electronic artists. One could feasibly
discuss her sound in the context of that of similarly
ambiguous artists such as Björk (and many have) but
even that would be an over-simplification of matters.
“I’m indifferent to those kinds of comparisons, to be
honest,” Noriko responds. “They neither impress me
nor depress me. I think it’s all a bit of nothing, actually.
Saying something is like something else is sometimes a
bit lazy. Like people can’t think of a way to describe. I also
sometimes wonder if it’s because of being from an island.”
In truth, the only effective method of understanding
Noriko’s work is through the dynamics of its
construction. To discuss the individual details is
fascinating but, given the fluid and transient nature
of such ingredients, largely fruitless. It’s much
more productive to examine the commonalities
that unify Noriko’s superficial stylistic tropes.
Perhaps the best metaphor for the songwriter’s process
is that of sculpture. Like a sculptor, Noriko starts with
the broadest possible canvas and whittles down her
work to the finest details – before employing those
details to precisely construct something infinite and
spacious in its own right. One need only look at the
songstress’s collaborations with similarly-minded
sound artists Lawrence English and John Chantler (who
jointly produced Noriko’s 2009 U album and currently
round out her live performance trio) for proof.
“It’s nice to be playing with John and Lawrence, I’m so
happy to play with them,” the singer-songwriter reflects.
“For my feeling the trio is more open and that’s fun to be
part of. We discover each other and our collective sense
through our performances. Like I said before, it’s about
making good things. Beautiful things. Always searching.”

Although more than happy with the content of the album,
Aido admits the band have been a little frustrated by the
delay in getting the album back from the presses, but the
band have been buoyed by the popularity of the new songs.

D

espite forming in 2002 and releasing a demo
EP a year later, Wish For Wings’ debut fulllength Afterlife didn’t see the light of day
until 2008, but as Aaron explains, this was not due
to having a shortage of songs in their repertoire.
“It probably wasn’t that we didn’t have enough
material; it was just that we had opportunities to be
on the road and none of us really like being cooped
up in the studio,” he says. “We were lucky enough
that when we put out the [From The Past To The
Grave] EP [in 2006], we had a lot of offers to do a
lot of touring, and it was kind of hard to say no to.
“I guess looking back on it, we probably should
have recorded the first full-length CD a long time
ago, but we just like being out on the road…it’s just
one of those things; when we kept getting offers
to be on the road, we just kept saying yes.”
On their latest album, Wish For Wings worked with local
producers Rick and Darren Parker – who Aaron and
Aido went to school with – after a chance encounter.
“I hadn’t spoken to Rick since we’d left high school and
I randomly bumped into him and he mentioned he had a
studio and he’d never recorded any sort of heavy music
before, but that’s what he listens to,” Aido explains. “He
had just been recording pop artists and he told me he had
a studio and I should come and check it out and when
I did I was like, ‘Oh wow, yeah you do, this is great’.”
Aido says working with someone the band’s members
had a history with made the recording process a
much more stress-free, straightforward affair.

“We played a show last night at Wyong and we just jumped
in the van and were going to get some dinner and Andy
[Barber – guitar] was on his laptop and we jumped on
MySpace and we were the number one punk artist and
the number one punk song on their homepage,” Aaron
says in disbelief. “I guess that really caught us off-guard
considering the album was officially released on Friday
and as far as I know, none of the stores have it … but
obviously people are hearing the record somewhere.”
Wish for Wings have rightfully earned a reputation as
hard workers. At the moment they’re midway through a
15-date tour of Queensland and last year they undertook
a gruelling 70-date tour of Australia and New Zealand.
“No, I don’t think we knew what we were getting
into [with last year’s tour],” Aaron admits.
“It’s hard work but you push through it.”
“It paid off in the end,” Aido adds. “People still talk
about it, [Michael] Crafter will still razz us up; going
‘Oh Wings, when are you playing Ulladulla again,
you haven’t played there for a while,’” he laughs.
As for the band’s live show, Aido says, “it’s just a
good night out, getting out, hanging out with your
friends and watching some bands – it shouldn’t
be about anything else other than that.”

SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE BACK TO SCALD
It’s no orgy, but something within the LA-based GROUPLOVE exudes
some freaky level of friendship not often seen in your average band.
Drummer RYAN RABIN gets on the line to BEN PREECE to
tell the intriguing story of how this band came to be.

Since their return to the live fray in 2008, HOT WATER MUSIC
have undertaken successful tours of the US and Europe and now
it’s finally Australia’s turn. DANIEL JOHNSON catches up
with bassist JASON BLACK.
when I was still in high school – probably when he was
still in high school. It’s nice to have someone who has
their own thing going on when they go on tour, who’s
not like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never done this before’.”

commune. There were a lot of people there and we
were living in this living in this little village and out of
everyone there, the five of us formed a fast friendship – it
was one of those things that, after a week or two, you
find the people you connect with the most. It was the
five of us and this was even before we started playing
music together, we formed this firm friendship thing.”
As they say, “All good things come to an end” and when
that dreamy summer ended, the five made their way
back to their respective parts of the globe, assuring
each other their paths would cross once again. Long
story short – absence does and did make the heart
grow fonder and all five reconvened in Los Angeles
to make music together. Their debut, self-titled EP
is just the first step in what clearly is going to be a
long and fruitful, not to mention friendly, career.

S

ometimes you just have to believe that
occasionally fate, destiny or whatever it is
you might believe in comes into play and
drags the right group of people together under
what would otherwise seem like impossible
circumstances. Take Grouplove as an example
– as the story goes, it seems like the meeting of
its five members was simply meant to be.
“It was definitely unexpected and a lot of people don’t
believe the story,” drummer Ryan Rabin laughs of the
band’s series of successive meetings. “It is sort of fate,
I think – we were all in very different places in our lives
at the time, this was about two summers ago. I was born
and raised in Los Angeles with the guitar player Andrew
Wessen and we’ve been friends for a long time. His
brother started this project in an artist commune in this
little mountain town in Crete [Greece] and we all made
it out there that summer under different circumstances
– Hannah [Hooper] and Christian [Zucconi] had met in
New York only the week before and she invited him to go
with her, she is a painter, and he just dropped everything
at home and went over there. The same went for Sean
[Gadd] in London, he had some friends who were going
over as musicians to play a festival that is held at the

28

“We started just recording the songs that we had
been jamming on together,” Rabin explains. “Once we
started, we thought that this was something special so
we just kept going to see how many we could do. We
tracked a bunch of songs, everybody moved into my
parent’s house – God bless them for being cool with
that. Once we put the songs that we were jamming on
in grease and let them evolve into what they became
on the EP, we were all pretty sure we’d done something
we thought was very special, particularly to us.
“Musically, I think it’s something that evolved out of the
friendship,” he says of the EP. “Some of the songs were
fragments or ideas that arose from everybody from the
first time we met. Some of it has a very tongue-in-cheek
vibe and is very sunshine-y and most of it came from
that summer in Greece. It turned into eight songs, five of
which will be on this EP and the other three will be on the
debut album. The newer songs are a bit more of all of us
contributing where the original handful are songs Hannah
and Christian had worked on together. Each time we
write one, we sit back and try to make the next one better
than the last. That’s our ethos for everything now.”

WHO: Grouplove
WHAT: Grouplove EP (Dew Process/Universal)

S

Before Hot Water Music recommenced touring,
the band released Till The Wheels Fall Off – a
23-track collection of b-sides, rarities and covers
– and Black says he was pleasantly surprised by
the positive reception the record received.

ince disbanding in 2006, each of the members
of Hot Water Music have gone on to perform in
other projects. Bassist Jason Black now plays
in Senses Fail, guitarist Chris Wollard formed the Ship
Thieves, drummer George Rebello plays in Against
Me! and vocalist/guitarist Chuck Ragan has forged
a successful solo career. Black was in Australia with
Senses Fail only a few months back but is excited about
the prospect of returning with Hot Water Music, who are
co-headlining their impending tour with Bouncing Souls.

“It was nice to be able to get that out right around
when we started doing shows so there was a
little something to carry it, too,” he adds.

“We always love coming down here and it’s the one place
we haven’t really had a chance to get back to since we
started doing shows on a semi-regular basis I guess,”
Black says. “We were able to sort of find time for this
and make it happen, so we just kind of went for it.”

Hot Water Music’s frontman Chuck Ragan has made
several trips tom Australia since the release of his
critically acclaimed debut solo record Feast Or Famine
in 2007, and Black admits to being surprised by Ragan’s
vigour since Hot Water Music first called it a day.

When asked what he is most keenly anticipating about
returning, Black pauses for a second, before answering “I
think everything man, honestly – great food, great beer,
great people, awesome weather – the whole thing.”

“He’s been working his ass off with that,” Black offers.
“The only thing I was surprised about was how much
he did, because when he wanted to stop touring he
turned around and just started touring again.”

Unfortunately, due to his commitments with Against Me!
Rebello won’t be joining the band for their Australian
tour, but the band has enlisted the services of Lagwagon
and Me First and The Gimme Gimmes drummer Dave
Raun. Although Black is disappointed Rebello won’t be
performing with the band, he says Raun has slotted in
effortlessly and Rebello approves of the choice of stand-in.

And while Black harbours no ill-feelings about his
frontman’s prolific solo touring schedule, he admits there
has been some light ribbing about Ragan’s about-face.

“If it hadn’t been something that [Rebello] was okay
with we never would have done it,” he says. “It was
actually at his suggestion that we even thought about
doing it in the first place. [Dave] is a great dude, real
friendly, so it works out super-well. He’s been doing
it longer than we have. He started touring with RKL

Although the band hasn’t released any new material
since 2004’s The New What Next, Black says the band
feels no added pressure about the next recording.
“We’re not going to put anything out we’re not happy
with and we’re not going to put something out we
don’t think is good,” he says matter-of-factly.

“Oh yeah, all the time man,” he laughs.” He
knows; we’re all too good a friends to not be able
to give each other shit about everything.”

WHO: Hot Water Music
WHERE & WHERE: The Zoo
Saturday Dec 11

SILENT SUN

Unbeknownst to the greater public, THE SUNBURYS are poised to launch
their second album in less than 18 months. MATT O’NEILL speaks to
frontman ANTHONY DETTORI about Swings & Roundabouts and the
Brisbane trio’s punishing work ethic.
for Swings & Roundabouts, meanwhile, also saw the
band lay the foundational tracks for their third studio
album (scheduled to be released late next year).

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Local singer-songwriter LIAM GRIFFIN is preparing to launch his
debut full-length Between The Colours – the result of a year of dedicated
work and plenty time spent learning and absorbing and subconsciously
preparing. MITCH KNOX finds out staying in school mightn’t be a total
waste of time after all if you want to make it as a muso.

learned within the hallowed halls of Academia while
working on his debut full-length album Between The
Colours, and moreover, he found great satisfaction.

“It’s been a really quick turnaround, yeah, and I’m hoping
we can keep up that schedule and deliver an album every
one to two years,” Dettori enthuses. “We’ve actually
recorded the beds for 13 tracks for the next record already
and early next year we’re hoping to get in and do seven
more so we’ve got a solid 20 songs to choose from when it
comes to making the album. It’s probably a bit unrealistic
to keep this up year after year but I certainly want to try.

T

here’s something strangely isolationist about
The Sunburys. Their raw and memorable soulrock sound sits at the approximate midway point
between the visceral rumble of Brisbane’s old musical
guard and the taut, pop-savvy arrangements of its
developing artists – but, for the past three years, the local
trio have, to all intents and purposes, operated solely within
the comfortable confines of their own private little world.

This would be understandable if they were in any way
a substandard or immature outfit of musicians – but
the three-piece are arguably one of the better musical
outfits to have emerged from the city in recent years. The
ensemble’s three members (guitarist/vocalist Anthony
Dettori, drummer Scott Lapthorne and bassist Andrew
Sullivan) are all veterans of the local community and,
with 2009 debut Here Come The Sunburys, the band
delivered one of last year’s best local long-players.
“I think this whole band has different gauges of success
compared to most other aspiring musicians,” Anthony
Dettori offers in explanation. “It’s not based on whether
we’re getting radio play and it’s not based on whether we’re
getting picked to play festivals. It’s not based on any of
that sort of stuff. It’s based on having a solid body of work
that we’re all proud of – if we have money, we’re going to
put it toward making a good record before anything else.”
Nowhere is this more evident than on the band’s
latest release – Swings & Roundabouts. Recorded
live with minimal overdubs with legendary local
producer Jeff Lovejoy, the band’s second album
arrives with minimal fanfare less than 18 months
after their exceptional debut. The recording sessions

“We’re self-funding and we’re doing everything
ourselves so we’re not really at the mercy of someone
else saying when we can and can’t release things.
The songs are always there and I think we should just
get them while they’re good. You know, it probably
makes more sense from a business perspective to
push an album for five years and sit on our haunches
but we’re simply not interested in doing it.”
Examining the band’s career, it swiftly becomes
apparent that their isolation largely stems from the
band’s relationship with pretension – in that they don’t
appear to have one. Everything about the band, from
their stripped-back sound to their barrelling live shows,
smacks of an ensemble who have gloriously failed to
comprehend the fundamental concepts of networking
and branding most bands view as necessities. The only
thing The Sunburys understand or care about is music.
“It doesn’t really matter to me what becomes of this
record – or any of our records, for that matter. I mean,
obviously I’d love a shitload of people to buy the
fucking thing,” Dettori says with a laugh. “But, when it
comes down to it, it’s a record that I’m really proud of
and I could see this record potentially affecting other
people in the same way records affected me as a kid.
It’s sort of a success for me already, this album.”

WHO: The Sunburys
WHAT: Swings & Roundabouts

(Handsome Devil Records/MGM)

WHERE & WHEN: The Beetle Bar
Friday Dec 10

“I have to say, it was the most enjoyable musical project
that I’ve been involved in, simply because I had all the
people that I wanted involved in the project,” he enthuses.
“I had them all there, and I had them – y’know, everyone
was on board, and it seemed like everyone just really
enjoyed the process. It was very natural. It didn’t feel
forced. It felt like the right time and the right people.
So I think the time that I put into planning the recording
definitely paid off; it was very beneficial to the project.”
Indeed, even on the launch side of things, Griffin
has found support from friends he made during
his previous tertiary endeavours, though to hear
him explain their role in the album it sounds more
like inevitability than an unlikely turn of fate.

L

ike a lot of university students, Liam Griffin
spends quite a bit of time playing instruments and
recording music. Unlike a lot of university students,
however, he actually has dedication to the pursuit to the
point that arsing around on Pro Tools (or what have you)
is not just a way to kill time – it’s what he’s working for.
“Obviously getting in some rehearsal time has been
pretty important, but actually I’ve been studying this
year,” the affable Griffin explains. “I’m doing a Bachelor
of Music at the Griffith Conservatorium of Music,
so that’s keeping me very busy … It’s a Bachelor
of Music Performance, majoring in jazz vocal.
“It covers a broad range of musically-related subjects,
so my major study being jazz vocal, we are learning
jazz repertoire music while also sort of focusing on
refining our technique and performance skills. In terms
of music theory, we’re doing compositional things and
arranging music for different settings, different ensembles
– that sort of thing – and using some of the musical
concepts that we’re talking about in the classes.”
It’s not often that stuff you learn in class is actually
applicable anywhere that isn’t exactly where you learnt
it, and even less often that the art of applying that theory
is enjoyable. But Griffin surely found use for the lessons

“All the people playing at the launch were involved with
the band during the recording or in some capacity over
the last year or so, and most of those people I got to know
through studying at QUT,” he reflects. “I was doing a
Bachelor of Music Production there a few years ago, so I
got to know a lot of musicians through that course, and
I guess it’s the nature of playing music and playing with
other people is that on the way, through your travels, you
get to meet new musicians and at some point I might think
I’d really like to have a keyboard player in the band and
so I’ll talk to other musicians that I know and say, ‘Well,
who can you recommend?’ And quite often people have
played with many different musicians, so you go on what
people recommend and usually that works out that way.
I’m definitely excited about having the trumpet players
play at the launch. That’s a first for me. I’ve played live
with a rhythm section and some string players but I’ve
never been able to eventuate having a horn section.”

Hot Air is the first release from Magic Dirt’s
Adalita Srsen following the tragic death of
Death Turner in 2009 ahead of a solo debut
album to be released next year. The title track
is a lilting two-chord lullaby with restrained and
thoughtful vocals, looping around with extra
colour added by a couple of dirty guitar lines.
It’s a beautiful song with no drums or any other
kind of instrumentation at all – the sparseness
adding to the melancholic atmosphere. There’s
also a very low tempo cover of Eddy Current
Suppression Ring’s Wrapped Up consisting only
of Adalita’s wailing voice and a very dirty guitar
track. The fact that it works so well in such a
stripped-back fashion is testament not only to
her voice but also the simplistic beauty of the
original song. It’s a fantastic EP and demonstrates
her immense talent in full flight once again.

PATRICK WOLF
Time Of My Life
(Speak N Spell)

Classical strings melt into disco before being
whisked away by an acoustic guitar interlude that
builds with handclaps until everything collides
together into the early chorus of Patrick Wolf’s
new single Time Of My Life. He has a gift of
mashing genres together effortlessly and making
them sound like something new, while still being
entirely danceable and accessible and completely
pop. It’s less gimicky than his bigger hits of the
past perhaps showing a growing maturity, or
perhaps completely by accident. There’s some
great remixes fl oating around already, which strip
back the lush production highlighting the strength
of the melody, the Still Going remix in particular.

The Wants

The Union

The high level of expectation for the sequel to the
1982 cult classic Tron is almost parallel to the
level of expectation that applies to everything that
Daft Punk have done since the release of their
debut masterpiece Homework. In a rare moment
of Hollywood brilliance, Disney has teamed the
world’s most famous robots up with a movie about
people getting sucked into a video game.

The Phantom Band’s 2009 debut Checkmate Savage
was a rough-yet-transient effort that sketched out
the band’s future without laying down any real or
impressive foundations. It’s a surprise then when
the Glaswegian sextet return stronger, bolder and
ultimately darker on their sophomore album The Wants;
a dark and intimate tryst into the realms of mesmeric,
dense and unmistakably rewarding songwriting.

Taken on its superficial merits, there’s no reason a
full-length collaboration between Elton John and underappreciation singer/songwriter Leon Russell would merit
investigation. Aside from the general decline both artists
have been experiencing over the past 15 years, one would
think their most recognised aesthetics would clash like oil
and water. John’s psychedelic pomp and circumstance
simply doesn’t gel with Russell’s rootsy authenticity.

The soundtrack for the original movie was itself a
masterful work of electronica years before anyone
took synthesiser music for anything other than a
fad and a blight on rock’n’roll. Moog pioneer Wendy
Carlos was recruited and teamed up with a symphony
orchestra to create a bigger cinematic experience.

Opener A Glamour fizzles from the start and the almost
primal, tribal beating of Damien Tonner’s tom-toms
sets the bar. It unrelentingly throbs throughout, building
towards a synth-laden, guitar-driven coda that pushes
expectations further. And as the pulsating energy
subsides into the new wave inflections of O it is replaced
by yet more sonic invention, with the emphasis now
on vocals as Rick Anthony experiments with pitch
and range. The sheer level of experimentation both
electronically, vocally and structurally is impressive but
what is more striking is the band’s ability to confine such
trials. Although long and meandering, each note and
whirl is tightly controlled, meaningful and purposeful.

And yet – here we are with The Union. Arguably the
best record either artist has released in over a decade,
The Union is not merely serviceable or respectable but
actually solidly exceptional throughout. Lead single If It
Wasn’t For Bad kicks off the album with style – John’s
rumbling baritone dancing playfully around Russell’s
reedier drawl over a bed of gently strutting piano – and
the quality’s maintained for the remainder of the record.

The same techno-logic has been applied to the
soundtrack for Tron Legacy – an 85-piece orchestra
helps Daft Punk build on their signature sound to create
a massive spiralling score. Sometimes the pieces are
nothing more than atmospheric strings and occasional
computer game blips, but at some points the soundtrack
delivers what could almost be considered songs in their
own right. Derezzed, despite its short length, and the end
titles for the film hark back to Discovery-era Daft Punk –
an album that itself became something of a soundtrack
for the Toei Animation film Interstellar 5555, which used
the entire record as its only audio. End Of Line is a slow
tempo electronic ballad, which if fleshed out could have
been a sensational piece of work in its own right.
The combination of the orchestra with the distinctive
Daft Punk sound and arrangement is flawless,
captivating and surprisingly rewarding– even without
having the benefit of seeing the visuals that are
obviously an important part of the equation.

Whether it be the folk-heavy Come Away In The Dark,
the acoustically built The None Of One or the processed
beats of Into The Corn the whole album seems to come
together as one. Weird that. Indeed, it seems that
throughout the entire album The Phantom Band do their
best to transmogrify themselves just enough to keep
us on our toes – not so much them thinking outside the
box musically but more thinking about the box itself and
helping make that box as interesting and relevant as
possible without fucking about with its parameters too
much. As elusive as this comes across upon first listen,
it’s refreshing and will eventually be the reason you reach
for the play button again after the album crashes to a halt.

★★★★½ Chris Yates

★★★★ Barrie Morgan

The gospel backing vocalists and stalking drums
ensure Hey Ahab practically throbs with menace and
melodrama; There’s No Tomorrow is a dark, almost
evangelical lament and I Should Have Sent Roses is
a particularly marvellous showcase for both Leon
Russell’s weathered voice and exceptional songwriting.
Throughout, producer T-Bone Burnett works his typical
magic – surrounding both John and Russell’s songs with
warm acoustics and exceptional sidemen (Marc Ribot,
in particular, turning in a standout performance).
The only problem with the record is one feels the artists
involved could have taken the concept significantly
further. While feted as a collaborative record, a great
many of the songs featured are individually written
(albeit collaboratively performed) with a specific bias
towards the classic Elton John/Bernie Maupin team.
One can only wonder what kind of record could have
come from a more open approach to creation.
★★★★ Matt O’Neill

THE DEATH SET

Yo David Chase, You P.O.V Shot
Me In The Head
(Counter)

Forming on the Gold Coast and relocating to
the now infamous ghettos of Baltimore, The
Death Set have already had a very troubled and
eventful short history. Johnny Sierra has decided
to keep the group going despite the death of his
collaborator Beau Velasco, and the first track from
the group’s forthcoming second album shows that
the same insane spirit and energy that existed
on their awesome debut Worldwide is present,
but it has been cleaned up a little. Electronic
superstar Diplo contributes a keyboard line to
this electro punk ‘ode’ to The Soprano’s creator
in a one minute explosion of awesomeness.

DR DRE

Kush (Featuring Snoop
Dogg & Akon)
(Universal)

The phrases ‘highly anticipated’ and ‘long
awaited’ are bandied around a lot when it comes
to the release of new albums from legends of the
business, but with Dr Dre it’s ridiculously accurate
to the point of farce. The album Detox has been in
the works for close enough to a decade and the
single Kush is apparently heralding its imminent
release. If you’re expecting it to sound like a
classic Dr Dre number that could have been lifted
from either of his previous albums, well you’re not
in for any surprises. The familiar fat kick, piano
line, catchy R&B hooks (even if it’s Akon instead
of Nate Dogg) and even a surprisingly acceptable
rap from Snoop shows all the elements intact.
It’s even about smoking weed – imagine that.
It’s proof Dre knows what works, but it’s also
proof that his palette of beats and sounds hasn’t
increased in ten years, for better or worse.

NO AGE

Everything In Between

BLACK DUB

(Sub Pop/Other Tongues)

Black Dub

The third album from LA two-piece No Age
represents a progression into some kind of
awkward maturity, kind of like when skaters grow
up – they keep on wearing the same brand of
sneakers, but with noticeably less scuff marks.

Daniel Lanois is usually associated with producing
mega-acts like U2, but when he does venture out on his
own, his ethereal guitar is a constant reminder of his
understated nature and ability to beautifully colour songs.

The emphasis is way more on the way a song can
hinge on a two chord progression, and making melody
work in those confines for large sections of the song.
These simplistic drone-like verses make the Wirestyled punk rock changes in the chorus of songs
like Depletion really stand out, and on this track in
particular it contributes to it becoming a real success.
Sometimes it’s very jarring at first like on Skinned,
but like most challenging listens it does start to make
sense, even if it’s still not as rewarding at first.
The more up-tempo tracks are a lot more immediate
– the excellent Fever Dreaming is the third track
on the record but the first point where the band
break a sweat. The album’s closer Chem Trails is
a big dose of pop to leave you feeling satisfied and
has clearly been saved just for this reason.
Some tracks are literally nothing more than just ambient
noise, and act as a gap filler between tracks to create
some atmosphere, yet sometimes this builds into a
beautiful melody and a couple of simple loops with heaps
of feedback become an amazing piece of music like
Dusted, which is begging to be used in a poignant and
emotional scene in an indie teen drama/comedy film.
All in all it’s a very solid record, informed by
some great punk rock and new wave albums
of the past, without being nostalgic or wearing
any direct influences on its sleeve.
★★★½ Chris Yates

(Jive/Sony)

Black Dub is Lanois’ new band and while everything
here is written and produced by Lanois, this album
is a slight departure from what he’s been known for.
Bringing in the rhythm talents of Brian Blade and Daryl
Johnson and the sultry vocals of Trixie Whitley, this
really is a band built on the bedrock of a dub style
– perfect for layering exploratory slices of guitar.
The horrific realisation as you steadily sink into these
11 songs is that this album is actually quite grating and
awful. The blame for this has to be squarely levelled
at Whitley, who obviously sees herself as some kind of
soul diva, but doesn’t really have the voice or range to
match. Her coarse delivery and benign subject matter
don’t allow you to get past her to find out if the music is
worth your time. When the music veers out of its groove
and into rockier territory in Nomad, it’s again that voice
that repels – Beth Gibbons or Sharon Jones she’s not!
So, if this was an instrumental album – as Slow
Baby highlights – then maybe there’d be plenty you
could hold onto and a mood you could build upon, but
alas that’s not the case here. Eventually this album
becomes a hybrid of themes that constantly clash
when they should coagulate into one rich vein of song.
Thankfully Lanois is so busy with new projects that this
album will hopefully soon be replaced with something
more befitting his already established talents.
★★ Richard Alverez

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Strain Of Origin
(Feral Media/Lofly)

The concept for this collaboration between Sydney label
Feral Media and Brisbane label Lofly is so simple that
it basically guaranteed some level of creative genius to
flourish. The artists were given a two week deadline to
create a remix in order to keep everything as spontaneous
and raw as possible. The diversity and complexity of the
tracks included on the compilation speak volumes about not
only the level of talent associated with these labels, but also
the good taste of the people behind the labels themselves.
John Hassell (aka Vorad Fils) deconstructs the sprawling
instrumental rock of Mr Maps excellent Til The Money
Runs Out and turns out some minimal glitchy electronica
which on the surface seems to retain very little of the
original but actually manages to capture the same
presence and melodic intricacies that make the
track so special to begin with. As the record’s opener,
it’s the perfect way to ease into this collection.
Two of the best moments on the compilation come
from the ever impressive Brisbane band Re:Enactment.
Comatone’s wobbly bass remix of Them Burnt Puppies
is equally as impressive as when the Re:Enactment
boys try their own hand at remixing on the ambient
scratchy Underlapper track Drinking Dust.
The Subsea Construction remix of An Optimists
Falling by Alpen borders on insanity – the absurdity of
random glitches being pulled into an understandable
beat somewhere around the halfway mark.
Lofly’s reworking of Nice Place You Got There by
Comatone starts innocently enough before degenerating
into an assault of distorted industrial griminess.
There’s not a boring moment on the record, which
is available as a free download via bandcamp – it’s
essential listening for anyone with an ear bent towards
the unusual and innovative elements of electronic music.
★★★★ Chris Yates

30

THE SUNBURYS

NEIL DIAMOND

STONE PARADE

RONNIE WOOD

(Handsome Devil/MGM)

(Columbia/Sony)

(MGM)

(Eagle Records/Shock)

Swings And Roundabouts
The Sunburys are nothing if not down-to-earth. The
Brisbane three-piece have an unpretentious, organic
pop/rock sound that they elaborate on with slick guitar
riffs and a hefty dose of soul. Swings And Roundabouts,
their follow-up to 2009’s much-lauded debut Here
Comes The Sunburys, has the same upbeat, intimate
feel as a live show. The songs, although straightforward
and uncluttered, are catchy as hell and manage to be
both serious and fun, when the occasion calls for it.
Frontman Anthony Dettori sings about whatever’s on
his mind in a very direct fashion, without the need for
cryptic symbolism. And most of the time, it’s stuff the
average guy or girl can relate to. Hold On To Me, a lovely
acoustic ballad written on Grand Final Day, explores the
relationship between romantic love and sport. Title track
Swings And Roundabouts is another gentle number,
complete with twee piano, about a guy who wonders if
he can really be “just friends” with his ex. Fight Or Flight,
loosely inspired by the Victorian bushfires, is a gutsy track
about sticking around to fight for what’s important to you.
At times, The Sunburys’ knack for combining
blokey earnestness with touching poignancy recalls
Hunters & Collectors, particularly on None Of This
Is True, a powerful rock number that showcases
Dettori’s ability to tell stories through song.
The closing track – a cover of Tom Petty’s Apartment
Song – is a pretty good rendition and features an
epic guitar solo, but The Sunburys are at their best
when they play their own material. Swings And
Roundabouts is an impressive second record with a
good-natured feel that makes it hard to dislike.
★★★★ Daniel Wynne

Dreams

Over his 50 years in music, Neil Diamond has become
a songwriting legend, and gathered so much respect in
the industry that he pretty much has complete creative
freedom to do what he wishes – and so long as it’s
released within a month of Christmas day, it will sell a
bucket load too. Something of a late bloomer, however,
Diamond’s last proper studio album Home Before Dark
was, to put bluntly, quite fantastic, as Neil found a
more mature and reinvigorated sound that brought
about a new cavalcade of fans. That’s why it’s a bit
of a shame to see him once again return to another
clichéd covers album with his current record Dreams.
Taking on his favourite rock’n’roll tracks, Diamond does
his best to unwind the good deeds done with his previous
release with the Gladys Knight & The Pips’ Midnight Train
To Georgia, The Beatles’ Blackbird and Yesterday and
Leonard Cohen’s classic Hallelujah. While most songs have
been stripped back to the bones with acoustic natures,
minimal string backings and the odd brass rise to bolster
the scattered rhythm sections, overall it simply feels too
much like more time spent in another thrown-together
compilation release that should have been moved onto new
material. The ironic part of the disc however is that the only
Diamond-penned track on the list I’m A Believer – a song
that he has performed thousands of times before – is the
standout for its radical reworking and almost depressing
approach to a song famous for its cheery outlook.
Thankfully Diamond’s rich and grizzled vocal tone
does carry many of the covers through and saves
them from a ‘butchering’ classification, but it’s not
enough to allow taking in the 55 minutes without
the odd grimace appearing on your face.
★★ Mark Beresford

Stratosphere

I Feel Like Playing

Australian hard rock is a secular society, ruled by three
bands: Karnivool, Cog and The Butterfly Effect. The genre
has fragmented into both a commercial approach, which
Dead Letter Circus are confidently pursuing, and the more
abstract, like WA’s Sugar Army. In this vacuum in between,
there are a plethora of imitators and also innovators.
So where does Sydney’s Stone Parade fit into the picture?
Their debut Stratosphere won’t be a defining moment in
the timeline of contemporary hard rock, but few bands
are able to encase pop-rock within a metallic exterior
and Stone Parade do it a lot better than the standard.
Stratosphere is important for Stone Parade not because
of what it has accomplished, but what it may accomplish
in the future. The band wears their influences on their
sleeve, still in the process of mixing them together. Mr
Spaceman is an obvious homage to The Killers, not just in
the title but also the way vocalist Greg Byrne croons like
Brandon Flowers over rolling disco beats. Children of The
Lost Empire draws parallels with Dead Letter Circus as
a pulsating staccato bassline intertwines with electronic
samples and percussive guitar. However despite these
discrepancies Stone Parade possess an ability to encase
an anthemic sing-along within a monolithic-sized riff. Take
Paranoia; sure it delves perilously close to Muse plagiarism,
but the transition between the smooth finger-clicked jazz
opening, furious bottom-heavy thumping and psychotic
laughter exemplifies what the band are capable of when
they put their minds to it. Indian Wolves and August Tide
hint that progressive approaches are more than feasible.
Whilst their ability as musicians may not quite have
reached the peak, rest assured that in time Stone Parade
will be huge. But if Australian hard rock isn’t your thing,
you certainly won’t be won over by Stratosphere.

I Feel Like Playing, in a way, it says it all. If Ronnie Wood
who is a past and present member of The Rolling Stones
and The Faces wants to record a new solo album then
there are few people who hold the reputation or legacy
to object. What Wood delivers is precisely what you’d
expect – a collection of songs that focus primarily on
standard blues-rock balladry, and whilst Wood calls on
celebrity guests Flea (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Slash (Guns
N’ Roses) and Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty Band) the result
is ultimately the musical accompaniment to the Hawaiian
shirt you would give to your dad on Christmas Day.
From the opening dull bar blues of Why You Wanna
Go And Do A Thing Like That For, the guest session
musicians lend little to the actual songwriting other
than to distract from Wood’s awful quasi-reggae rap
on Sweetness My Weakness. This album only serves to
remind one of the sheer gluttony of the records being
released every week that serve absolutely no purpose.
The funk rock of Spoonful is an aural adventure into
the world of utterly redundant LA session musician
excess. Flea lends overzealous basslines to complement
Slash’s funk wah guitar and the result is nearly six
minutes of elderly Rock’n’ Roll Hall Of Fame inductees
murmuring “Spoonful! ” into a microphone.
Whilst Ronnie Wood never Let it Bleed with The Stones
nor was he ever Exiled On Main St with Mick and Keith,
one still expects more than this by-the numbers, midlife
crisis rock album. Like Jagger learned years ago with
his own solo albums, without the rest of The Rolling
Stones he is but merely one part of the genius.
★½ Cam Ford

★★★½ Scott Thompson

ea
Powderﬁnger’s Sunsets Farewell Tour features
nearly 2 hours of concert footage covering
the band’s greatest hits spanning their entire
career, plus a documentary of the band on
the road of their ﬁnal tour and looking back at
their extraordinary achievements. Relive the
glorious memories forever.

The Four Seasons
Big Scary are a bag of contradictions. There’s nothing
remotely big or scary about them at all and the Sydney
duo are well aware of it. The band is another example of
the success attainable by being plucked from obscurity
by triple j’s Unearthed program. They’ve endured healthy
airplay, an exponential increase in fanbase and successful
national tours as a result. Perhaps their biggest strength
is an ability to transcend musical spectrums, ranging
from garage rock to indie folk and everything in between.
Since their first four seasonally themed, mini-EPs have
sold out of stock, the band has opted to amalgamate
all releases into one album with mixed results.
The problem with The Four Seasons is that it’s not
an album per se; it’s a compilation and bears all the
resulting flaws. That’s not to discredit Big Scary’s
songwriting, far from it, there are some fantastic tracks
on the album but they don’t cohesively flow. Individually
there are moments of brilliance dotted everywhere.
Occasionally the tracks reflect their seasonal themes,
but this doesn’t appear intentional. Spring’s Gem In The
Granite skips around without appearing overly joyous
or flamboyant, whereas The Deep Freeze is bleak and
melancholic with sparse piano interjected over droning
vocal hums. Summer, true to its nature, has the grittier
tracks. All That You’ve Got is a perfect reflection:
lethargic, bumbling garage fuzz. It’s contrasted by
Summer’s Last Gasp with gentle fingerpicking and toy
piano, mixed in with the chirp of insects on a humid night.
It’s promising to think that this is merely the tip of
the iceberg for Big Scary. With only two members,
the vast palette of sounds they meld together is
remarkable, unbound by style and genre. When
they knuckle down to produce a proper long-player,
wider admiration is almost an assurance.

Newbirds are a young Melbourne-birthed band
that write middle-of-the-road rock tunes that blend
into the background with shocking ease. Although
billed as an EP, the eight tracks of Song Bird Way
can easily be put into LP territory, especially in this
era of download consumption. But either way, it
doesn’t make the journey any more inviting.
Over the course of Song Bird Way, there is scantly
anything that makes you drop what you are doing or
barely pause. Keep Me Moving fails to do so but as an
opener, it at least offers a chance to salvage proceedings
so you press on. Bright Side is a write-off as soon as
the line “I’ve had a lonely heart, now I’m giving it to you”
has the shit crooned out of it, while Higher sounds like
jungle gospel which is as ridiculous as the pretence.
Final stand Song Bird Way has a rumbling, Steely
Dan bass element that combined with a crisp horn
section, really nails the sound that Newbirds are
forging to find. However then the track wraps up and
it’s all over, leaving a bittersweet taste in the listener’s
mouth of a band that could’ve been. This isn’t to say
that the three players that make up Newbirds aren’t
talented musicians in their own right. Lead vocalist
Tim Hocking can definitely rip a note with vigour, but
as a flowing piece of work, Song Bird Way sounds
contrived, played out and without an individual soul.
It’s obvious the band’s heart is in the right place. Their
touchstones in rock’n’roll are much like many aspiring
young band that has their feet planted in the past (ie.
The Beatles, The Who). However much like fellow
Melbournites Jet, they take the inspiration of their heroes
and dilute it into an offering that is neither rocking
nor rolling towards anything of substantial interest.
★★

Jackass 3D

Salute The Bowl

Expecting anything of an intellectual journey from
this soundtrack would be sheer stupidity, much like
our favourite lunatics, the Jackass crew. Finding
unprecedented success with the third official instalment
of their insane movie franchise, the boys are well
and truly back. But these songs definitely need some
idiot behaviour backing it up if they are going to be
given repeat spins. Even the sassy voice of Karen O
isn’t enough to save the lewd campfire innuendo that
seems to be the running theme of the soundtrack.

There’s a certain finality to the performances on
this RocKwiz episode. For one it’s the last episode of
the season, but moreover there is finality to certain
performers’ sense of integrity. On this DVD, as RocKwiz
salutes the Sidney Myer Music Bowl 50th Anniversary,
some of Australia’s most renowned commercial and
alternative performers seek to cover and recapture
the greatest songs that have been sung at the Bowl by
bands as diverse as AC/DC, Neil Young, ABBA, Billy
Thorpe & The Aztecs, Bob Dylan and Paul Kelly.

There are a few winners on the album that makes the
push through the meandering fillers not such big a
struggle. Classic Twisted Sister cut The Kids Are Back
kicks you in the balls early with swagger and sex, while
Memories, Weezer’s lead single off latest album Hurley,
has the drunken potential for a messy sing-along with
your friends written all over it. In fact, this is exactly
what has happened already, the chorus on the track
being filled out by the Jackass cast which actually helps
the song push away from Rivers Cuomo’s ridiculous
lyrics. The real find here though is CKY’s ghoul punk of
Afterworld, which sounds like Alkaline Trio attempting
glam with one foot still squarely in the coffin.

The show begins in earnest with Nic Cester(Jet)’s take
on Wings’ Maybe I’m Amazed. As much as one seeks
to begrudge his effort, Cester surprisingly succeeds in
presenting a faithful albeit modest interpretation and
when it comes to covering Wings, there isn’t much room
for experimentation. The songs selected tonight truly
pander to the baby boomer demographic and this may be
why many performers of this generation featured appear
ill-at-ease and at times almost embarrassed. Kram from
Spiderbait, whilst covering The Aztecs’ Most People I Know
(Think That I’m Crazy), captures the spirit of a deranged
busker rather than that of Billy Thorpe, whilst Adalita
(Magic Dirt) appears nervewracked and flails, struggling
to hit the notes on the AC/DC anthem Rock N’ Roll Ain’t
Noise Pollution. Paul Kelly comes across as a seasoned
entertainer covering Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl. Kelly
dances and joins the back-up singers in the bridge, his
performance brilliant and imbedded with a humour that
almost acknowledges the ridiculousness of the concert.

What’s surprising is the lack of death metal, black metal
or any sort of balls-to-the-wall riffing as that is the bread
and butter of Jackass’s Bam Margera and Steve-O. Apart
from Sassafras cut Been Blown To Shreds and Gang
Green’s Alcohol, both of which weren’t even used in the
movie, it is a gluttonous joke folk outing that reflects the
crazed faux cowboys that the Jackass crew have become
for 3D. As such, this release should still be given a wide
birth at best unless you are a complete and utter diehard.
Benny Doyle

Benny Doyle

As a DVD this serves only as a boorish walk down
memory lane for baby boomers in the grips of
senility. You would be better off firing up a joint,
blasting The Aztecs Live At Sunbury and conjuring
the fading memories of a misspent youth.
Extras: None.

VD

★½

D

★★★★ Scott Thompson

Song Bird Way

Cam Ford

D

VD

Really? Does every Bob Dylan concert ever committed
to tape have to be spruced up, packaged and sold
to an unquestioning mass? You’d just about be able
to rebuild the Great Wall of China with the amount
of Bob Dylan LPs, CDs and live concert re-issues.
Still, it’s obviously an easy money ticket.
Back in ’63, Dylan was just 22 years of age and this
recording exemplifies the gusto that first brought him to
prominence. Here he’s a mixture of the youthful idealism
that came to define the movement for change in the
60s and a stoic wisdom of a man who wants to walk
the barefooted miles that his folk heroes like Guthrie
and Seeger had before him. For many, this is why we
listen to Dylan – for that hopeful cry for change – and
given the years that have passed and the very public
road he eventually travelled, you can’t help but pine
for and wonder whatever happened to that Dylan in
the gym hall of Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
This is a Bob Dylan, this isn’t the Bob Dylan, but this
snapshot of the man is more interesting as a cultural
document, not in the development of a musician – it’s
nigh on pedestrian in that respect. This is captivating
from the perspective of a country gripped with fear and
anticipation. In ’62, Dylan was at the top of the charts
with Blowin’ In The Wind. In ’64, Vietnam erupted and
all the while the Commies and the bombs were everpresent. Listen to this recording for Ballad Of Hollis Brown,
Masters Of War and Talkin’ World War III Blues – poignant
reminders of a time we’d sooner not return to even though
their sentiment is still relevant in this day and age.
Most striking here is the realisation that there are no
Dylans shaping cultural change to the same degree today.
★★★½ Alex Gillies

32

(Shock)

Jimmy Webb is evidence that truly great storytelling
and songwriting can surpass banal tags like
AOR. Whilst Webb’s legacy is all but cemented
as a songwriter who truly got to the core of the
American story 30 years ago, his lyricism and
stories remain relevant and significant today.
Whilst his new album Just Across the River sees
Webb reinterpreting the repertoire of songs that
initially brought him fame, it’s seemingly a work
of passion and collaboration rather than an album
made for financial incentive, exuding a sense of
purity and excitement that one does not expect from
a performer of Webb’s experience and magnitude.
The classic Oklahoma Nights with Vince Gill opens
the album and whilst the song is reinterpreted with a
modernised country FM pulse it captures the original’s
heartbreak, melodrama and humour. Witchita Lineman
follows with Billy Joel lending piano and vocal work,
and this collaboration, whilst overwrought, actually
serves to prove that Webb and Joel befit one another as
collaborators. Webb and Willie Nelson’s duet on If You
See Me Getting Smaller is the pinnacle of the record.
When the duo with as much spite as two 70 year olds
can muster croon “I’ve got a right to disappear,” it heralds
a new high point in each of their respective careers.
Whilst many a young person may deride Webb’s work
as a dated work of adult-oriented country rock, this only
serves to negate Webb’s history and ever-growing talent
as a songwriter who can construct a story that whilst
a beautiful requiem for a time and innocence gone still
recalls situations and problems that are still relevant.
★★★★½ Cam Ford

VD

(Columbia/Sony)

Just Across The River

D

VD
In Concert: Brandeis University 1963

JIMMY WEBB

D

BOB DYLAN

JOHN BUTLER TRIO

These Are The Days – The Making Of
April Uprising
(Jarrah/MGM)

John Butler and his trio have never really left the public
eye for a good part of the last eight years, and in that time
there has been a swag of ARIA awards, three number one
albums, countless sold out shows and over half a dozen
different band members cycling through. Overshadowing
all of that though is John Butler himself and his strong
political mindset, never really afraid to tackle an issue
and always doing what he can to raise awareness.
Having been called ‘Australia’s Dreadlocked Bono’,
which I can assure you is an insult, John Butler Trio’s
latest DVD, These Are The Days, actually breaks
down all of the perceived perceptions of John Butler
and strips the trio back to three friends who hit the
studio in the early part of ’09 to record the album
April Uprising. Showing each of the albums tracks in
various performance states, it’s the fly-on-the-wall
scenes that revolutionise the viewing of the trio.
Round table discussions on track structures, antics
in the studios and secret recordings all blend in with
the more unexpected features such as Butler walking
down the historic lane of his busking past and revealing
his street art love. Most of this, however, plays second
fiddle to the honest look at a band that is in the midst
of recording their first collaborative album, a soaring
energy and morale and an extremely funny John Butler.
This DVD will do nothing but strengthen any Trio fans’
view of them being a solid act, but for naysayers, it’s
likely to alter their perception in a positive manner.
Extras: interviews, around the table
★★★½

Mark Beresford

THE ROLLING STONES
Ladies And Gentlemen
(Shock)

The Rolling Stones live on the Exile On Main St tour of
1972. Having released Sticky Fingers in ’71 and Let It
Bleed two years prior in ‘6 The Stones at this point had
released three of most significant LPs in the history
of rock music… in a row. The Exile On Main St tour,
whilst forever known and heralded or denigrated as
the height of The Stones’ decadence and indulgence,
captures them playing their skag-addled bones blues
at its most malevolent, bruised and damaged.
From the opening boogie thump of Brown Sugar, Mick
and Keith swagger and pout like they are playing in
the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world – and at that
point they are. The proto-punk stomp of Bitch and the
momentous Gimme Shelter exude The Stones’ ability
to transform often raw and skull-thumping blues into
rock’n’roll that can reverberate throughout a stadium and
move every member of the audience. The R’n’B trudge
of Tumbling Dice rolls into the hypnotic balladry Love
In Vain and the rousing acoustic honky tonk of Sweet
Virginia, which serves as an unexpected triumph of the
set, along with the 70s balladry of You Can’t Always Get
What You Want. The ending sequence which features
the garage rock’n’roll thud of Exile’s roaring Rip This
Joint, followed by Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Street Fighting
Man is rock’n’roll at its most visceral, albeit inspired
by guttural drug-induced pomposity and fervour.
Sadly The Stones’ modern legacy of senility stands
occasionally to overwhelm their past achievements.
Fortunately Ladies And Gentlemen truly reveals
The Rolling Stones in 1972 to be the most potent
and forthright rock’n’roll band on the planet.
Extras: Tour rehearsal, Old Grey Whistle Test
interview, Mick Jagger interview 2010.
★★★★½ Cam Ford

THURSDAY 9
Non mi piace Versace (I Don’t Like
Versace) – exhibition of photographic
works by Tamaryn Goodyear taken
on a recent trip to Italy. Expect the
unexpected. Metro Arts, 7pm.
Bruce Lee My Brother – a biopic
telling the life of Bruce Lee through
the eyes of his brother. Tribal Theatre,
8:30pm.

BRISBANE COMEDY FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2011
LINE-UP
The Brisbane Comedy Festival has announced its 2011 line-up, which
boasts a lot of names, such as Danny Bhoy, Jason Byrne in Cirque du
Byrne, Wil Anderson in Man vs Wil, Josh Thomas’ Everything Ever, Peter
Helliar’s World Of Balls (…And The Men And Women Who Like To Play
With Them), Arj Barker’s Let Me Do The Talking, Stephen K Amos in The
Best Medicine, Mark Watson, Eddie Ifft: What Women Don’t Want To Hear,
Denise Scott’s Regrets, Tom Gleeson: Up Himself, Sam Simmons: And The
Precise History Of Things, Dave O’Neil in Happy To Be Out Of The House,
Melinda Buttle: Buttle & Buttle, Hannah Gadsby’s Mrs Chuckles, Josh
Earl’s Love Songs And Dedications, Dave Thornton: I Wanna Be Bruce Lee,
Tom Ballard: Since 1989, Harley Breen: I Heart Bunnings, Steve Hughes,
Asher Treleaven in Secret Door, a one-night-only Chopper’s Fuckin’ Bingo,
Sammy J in Skinny Man, Modern World, Dead Cat Bounce: Caged Heat,
George McEnroe in The Care Factor, Damien Power: Driven, Geraldine
Quinn: Shut Up And Sing, Matt Keneally’s State Of The Nation, Stephen
Sheehan, The Hermitude Of Angus, Ecstatic, and The Bulmer’s Best Of The
Edinburgh Fest. The Brisbane Comedy Festival will be held at Brisbane
Powerhouse Tuesday 1 March to Sunday 27. Head to briscomfest.com for
more details.
STEVE SHEEHAN

MEL BUTTLE

UP

DUCK YOU SUCKER

BOOK

REVIEW

Red Hot Chili Peppers with
Brendan Mullen
Harpers Collin Publishers
This is not your average coffee
table photography book, though its
hardback bound thick red cover may
suggest. Inside lives page upon page
of reminiscent images and stories
from the ever popular foursome and
their friends, bandmates and loved
ones who’ve been part of the journey
from 1980s ’til now.
Fans will relish the beautifully printed
shots of the band taken from their
very foundation through to Stadium
Arcadium shots. Hillel Slovak,
Dave Navarro, and numerous other
members are represented in images
that range from touching black and
white portraits to ridiculous yet
famous socks on cocks images.
In between these are stories,
bite-sized perspectives on different
periods represented with band
member initials. The book doesn’t
follow a chronological order, which
may have been a better option than
the slightly confusing chapters
which attempt to delve into different
aspects in their tenure. Some

34

subjects are rehashed and for those
who’ve read Anthony Kiedis’ stunning
autobiography Scar Tissue, there may
not be much you didn’t already know.
There’s plenty for the newcomers to
enjoy, especially stories regarding
the unexpectedly warm relationship
between Perry Farrell and John
Frusciante, and the latter’s tale of
drug addiction and rehabilitation, told
with stark honesty and clarity.
The book feels more representative
of Flea and Kiedis’ relationship;
there’s a wealth of imagery of the
pair and stories of their unique
childhood based bond. Flea even
wrote the band-signed intro, as he
looks back fondly on a band he’s
been a part of for his entire adult life
and surely many years to come.
SEVANA OHANDJANIAN

THE LAST EXORCISM

THE LAST
EXORCISM

her sleep and wants the devil gone
from her. Cotton thinks things will be
textbook. He’s wrong.
The mockumentary format has
been done badly and done well,
but here it’s fortunately the latter.
Director Daniel Stamm has a fine
eye for creepiness and the location
of the film - a crumbling old isolated
Deep South farmhouse with a barn
filled with rusting implements of
destruction - is wonderfully spooky.
Fabian is a charismatic lead as the
faithless preacher, but the standout is
Ashley Bell as Nell, in a contortionist’s
performance that somewhat echoes
Jennifer Carpenter’s in The Exorcism
Of Emily Rose. In a couple of scenes
she delivers bone-chilling glances.
The ending may be a bit too Blair
Witch in its chaotic execution but
overall, The Last Exorcism succeeds
as a slow-burning, creepy thriller.
WHERE & WHEN: Screening in
cinemas now
BAZ McALISTER

LIFE, ITALIAN STYLE
HELEN STRINGER TALKS TO BRISBANE
PHOTOGRAPHER TAMARYN GOODYEAR
ABOUT SHOOTING ITALY, THE RESULTS
OF WHICH CAN BE SEEN AT METRO ARTS
TOMORROW NIGHT.

W

A VISUAL/ORAL
HISTORY OF
RED HOT CHILI
PEPPERS

REVIEW

The premise for this tight little Eli
Roth-produced flick is interesting:
what if a self-confessed charlatan
and disbeliever wanted to get out of
the exorcism game while exposing it
for the bunk he believes it to be? That
charlatan is Cotton Marcus (Patrick
Fabian), a showman who uses simple
tricks like hidden iPods and jokeshop gimmicks like electric shock
rings to convince gullible people he’s
expelling the devil from them.
However Cotton has had enough of
the sham, and he invites a film crew
to follow him on one last exorcism
(where else but in the Deep South
near New Orleans?) where he’ll
expose his tricks. Unfortunately for
all concerned he chooses to exorcise
Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell). When
he arrives at the family farm, Nell’s
father Louis (Louis Herthum) explains
Nell has been slaughtering cattle in

7
NOMINATIONS FOR THE WORST ALTERNATIVE FILM TITLE OF ALL TIME
By John Eagle
1. Duck, You Sucker (AKAK A Fistful of Dynamite, 1971)
2. On My Way To The Crusades I Met A Girl Who... (AKA The Chastity Belt, 1967)
3. The French They Are A Funny Race (AKA The Diary of Major Thompson, 1955)
4. A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (AKA How To Rob A Bank, 1958)
5. The Second Best Secret Agent In The Whole World (AKA Licensed To Kill, 1965)
6. Scudda Hoo Scudda Hay (AKA Summer Madness, 1948)
7. Went The Day Well? (AKA Forty Eight Hours, 1942)

FILM

hen most tourists come back
from overseas jaunts their
photographic mementoes
consist of blurry images of barely
discernable iconic buildings fronted
by fake-grin toting, sunburn-suffering
family members. Brisbane-based
photographer Tamaryn Goodyear,
however, has returned from Italy with
an exhibition of photos exploring the
unexpected daily life of Sicily and
Italy’s southern Islands.
“I didn’t set out to try to capture
anything,” explains Goodyear of the
show’s conception. “I tried not to
think of any theoretical side, or any
reasons or meanings; I wanted it to
be free of it. That’s the way I work
best, allowing myself to be open to
what comes up I’ll either realise some
sort of theme during it or after…
Being able to capture something [in a
photograph]; the moment’s gone after
it’s happened. I really like that.”
Goodyear’s exhibition Non Mi Piace
Versace - I Don’t Like Versace in
English - is representative of her
spontaneous approach to travel
photography; the title is a reference
to both the typical perception of Italy
and her own realisation that reality of
life on the Southern Islands is much
more complicated.
“I was really surprised to see that
side of Italy,” she says, “You know,
[in Italy] it’s very stylish and rich in
culture, but that’s driven towards
food and fashion; the history and
architecture. I was really surprised

in the South to see the difference.
It is quite poor down there,
especially Sicily. You really notice the
difference straight away - you get a
bit of a shock actually, it’s not what
you expect.
“I’d find myself in these cities. It’s a
little bit scary. But after a few days,
you find the beauty within that…
What can look a bit rough and gritty,
when you scratch the surface it’s
really quite beautiful.”
After overcoming the shock of finding
herself behind Italy’s façade of
fashion, food and commerce Goodyear
says, “I found myself enjoying
and finding the beauty in these
rougher places; it was really nice to
photograph and that’s how the theme
came around: people aren’t driven by
material goods and get along quite
well without it… No one’s living the
high life but it’s just as vibrant and
rich in culture in other ways.”
What developed from her sojourn
to the Southern Islands was a
collection of work focussing on those
unexpected cultural facets that serve
as propellants for daily life: religion,
sex, and the simple act of survival.
“Obviously Italy is steeped in religion,
you can’t really escape it,” she
explains. “And the sex part...?” She
laughs. “Well. It’s very different to
here. I’ll start with that. I managed
to have some really interesting
conversations with Italian men about
this topic - I think really honest
conversations…I wasn’t looking

to capture that in my photographs,
[but] I think it does come through.
There’s always this passion bubbling
below the surface. That tied up with
religion, I think there’s a lot of weird
cultural, traditional suppression
going on there.” It may seem rather
contradictory for a religiously
conservative country, but for
Goodyear the seemingly incongruous

FUNDAMENTALIST
BRITISH MC AND ACTOR RIZ AHMED TALKS
TO BAZ MCALISTER ABOUT HIS ROLE OF
SOLDIER, FATHER, AND PRANKSTER OMAR IN
CHRIS MORRIS’ UNIQUE LOOK AT THE WAR ON
TERROR, FOUR LIONS.

B

ombs, terror plots, planes
whacking into buildings, secret
nuclear stashes, weapons of
mass destruction – still, you’ve got
to laugh, don’t you? Chris Morris
certainly does. The British satirist
who became notorious for his cheeky
Brass Eye specials and took a swipe
at new media culture in Nathan
Barley has fixed his gaze on homegrown English jihadists in co-writing
and directing Four Lions.
Morris spins a yarn about a jihadist
cell made up mainly of buffoonish
bombers who’d struggle to put
together a kebab, let alone a terror
plot. Struggling to give this group
some much-needed direction is Omar,
a family man with a higher purpose
in mind. British rapper and actor
Riz Ahmed plays Omar, and says he
found three ways in to the character
– he’s a soldier, he’s a father, and he’s
a prankster. This, Ahmed says, gives
the character clarity.
“Having a family he cares for, in
Omar’s head, is synonymous with
wanting to create a better world
[through martyring himself],” Ahmed
says. “A lot of people talk about the

scene where his kid is saying ‘Go on
dad, do it’ but if you flip it around into
a Disney, Avatar sort of setup where
you have the goodie soldier having
a wobble about going to war, and
then the family come in and do the
noble thing and embolden the goodie
soldier – they say ‘Go on, do it, fight
for us, fight for America, fight for the
Jedi’, whatever – and in Omar’s head
he’s a goodie soldier. The sense of
wanting to care for your family and
fighting a just war go hand-in-hand.
“Also, he’s a prankster. For Omar, part
of the idea is he’s weirdly attracted
to the theatre, the spectacle, the
prank of walking around with secret
knowledge in your head and a grin
on your face. ‘I know something you
don’t know, it’s important, and I’m
playing my game in a world that
really counts, not this pleb 9-5 level
but in the world of global espionage’.”
Morris glommed on to Ahmed
originally through his rap video Post
9/11 Blues, where the puckish MC
wryly comments on the war on terror.
The director realised that Ahmed was
humorously rapping about the subject
matter he was investigating for the
AY
RSD
HU
T
RTS
STA

script that would become Four Lions.
“Chris wanted to meet up and he
told me he was researching in and
around the subject matter – Muslim
Britain, fundamentalism, intelligence
services, war on terror, and that
whole circus of madness – which
was kind of what my track was
about. We kept meeting up every
couple of months, talking about
everything and nothing. At no point
did he even tell me he had a script
and had me in mind for a role, but it
was a real eye-opener.
“Chris just looks at things differently.
What it got me thinking about was
the out-takes from this narrative of
terrorism, the blooper reels. If you
go on YouTube and type in ‘jihadi
videos’ near the top will come up
this British Asian guy in Bosnia
making a speech – ‘Brothers, come
out here and fight, the cause is just,
the people are beautiful, the country
is beautiful, and brothers, the kebabs
here are amazing’.”
It was this idea of following the
‘blooper reels’ and ‘out-takes’ of a
terror cell that would become the
crux of Four Lions. Omar, Barry, Waj,
Hassan, and Faisal bicker like feuding
ten-year-olds, play around with
homemade bombs, wrestle, fight, and
talk trash – in that respect, they’re
just like any bunch of guys.
“Just like any male group endeavour,
the driving force of it is testosterone

and idiocy,” Ahmed says. “Just like
bowling clubs, biker gangs, anything
– you get a group of guys together the
dynamic is rivalry, camaraderie, and
idiocy. Of course they’re normal guys.
What else are they? If you check out
people who were involved in the 7/7
attacks [in London], some of them
were genuinely loved, praised as the
nicest guy in the world, or the most
upstanding, helpful, selfless person.
That jars in our heads with the
image of evil, moustache-twiddling
baddies but the issue of terrorism is
much messier. It’s not a James Bond
supervillain network of baddies. It’s
average Joes that undertake these
tasks. That picture of them as normal
guys is very true to life. That doesn’t
take away the fact that what they’re
doing is clearly wrong.”
Ahmed has had his own brush with
the intelligence forces and reports
that the ‘blooper reel, out-take’
culture is alive and well among those
who fight terrorism, just as much as it
is in those who perpetrate it. Ahmed
starred in The Road To Guantanamo
a few years ago as a member of the
Tipton Three, British men held for two
years in Guantanamo Bay. On the way
back from a screening of the film on
Berlin, Ahmed was detained at Luton
Airport by security officers.
“Looking back now with these eyes,
I see the funny side of my detention
at Luton Airport by British Intelligence
officers – which it turned out was

If you inspect the contents of your
wallet, push aside the expired
franger and have a look at the
rectangles of printed polymer that
you exchange for goods. Hardly a
day goes by when we don’t inspect
our wallets to see if the quantity
of money folded between layers of
leather will carry us through, but
do you know who’s on your cash?
Americans go for nicknames like
Franklin to describe their bills but
would you know I’d be needing
change from $100 if I said, “All I
have is a Dame Nellie”?
Most slang for Aussie dollar notes
is related to the colour scheme,
in that we trump the greenback
hands down. Pinkies, lobsters, red
backs, and pineys are named fairly
obviously for their hues. However
only the $10 note can claim to
carry a name famous enough to be
adopted as slang, that’s a Banjo.
So without further adieu let’s have
a look at the evenly split ladies and
gentlemen of Australian currency.
As mentioned, the $100 note
features world renowned soprano
Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931).
A superstar of her day, Melba
reached the peak of her career in
the early 1900s and her outback
tours drew venue busting crowds.
She’s also the inspiration for the
classic dessert the Peach Melba.
On the flip side you’ll find General
Sir John Monash (1865-1931), civil
engineer and distinguished soldier,
he was most widely admired as an
outstanding military tactician who
drew many victories during WWI.
The $50 note features David
Unaipon (1872-1967), Aboriginal
writer and inventor whose
inventions included an improved
handpiece for sheep-shearing, a
centrifugal motor, a multi-radial
wheel, and mechanical propulsion
device. Representing the women
is Edith Cowan (1861-1932), first
female Australian politician who

completely illegal, they were basically
just cowboys trying to rough someone
up. It was weird and scary at the
time, but there were really ridiculous
elements. They were sat there jabbing
a finger in my face going [yells] ‘Do
not use your phone!’ but when I used
it they were like, ‘Well, there’s nothing
we can really do about it.’
“Then at one point one of them got
me in a wrist lock – it fucking hurt, he
nearly broke my wrist – and he got
the phone out of my hand and he was

N
SOO
ING
COM

N
SOO
ING
COM

successfully stood for state election
in 1921 after legislation was
enacted in 1920 making it legal for
women to enter Parliament.
The coupling for the $20 note is a
saint and sinner combo of Reverend
John Flynn and Mary Reibey. Flynn
(1880-1951), founded the Royal
Flying Doctor Service in 1934. On
the other side is Mary Reibey (17771855), a former convict who was
arrested for horse stealing 1791
and arrived in Australia in 1792 and
went on to become a successful
businesswoman.
Besides the Queen, the $10 note
features the most iconic of subjects,
Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson
(1864-1941). Banjo had a cracker
of a year in 1895 penning both
Waltzing Matilda and The Man From
Snowy River. On the flip side is
Dame Mary Gilmore (1865-1962),
poet and social reformer who
stirred patriotism in the hearts of
Australians during WWII with such
poems as No Foe Shall Gather Our
Harvest and Singapore.
The original polymer $5 note
features Queen Elizabeth II, and
Parliament House, while a later
edition features Sir Henry Parkes
(1815-1896). Popular politician and
early advocate of a federal council,
Parkes was dubbed the “Father of
Federation”. He convened the 1890
Federation Conference where he
proposed the name ‘Commonwealth’
for the united colonies. Also on
the new fiver is Catherine Spence
(1825-1910); writer, feminist, and
reformer, Spence was passionate
about the rights of women and
lobbied for greater child welfare
provision. She became Australia’s
first female political candidate when
she contested, unsuccessfully, the
election for delegates to the 1897
Australasian Federal Convention.
You may be set to part with many of
your Melbas over the coming weeks
but at least you know who’s peeking
back at you.

going through it, making lurid faces
at me like ‘Ooh, I’m looking at your
secret texts’. When I got the phone
back the language had been changed
to Danish! This idiot was just randomly
jabbing all the buttons at once.”
Ahmed’s debut album as Riz MC,
MICroscope, will be released in
January.
WHAT: Four Lions on DVD
(Hopscotch)

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES 2011
PROGRAMME
The Alliance Française French
Film Festival returns to Brisbane in
2011 from Wednesday 16 March
to Sunday 3 April. The festival,
second only to Cannes as the largest
festival of French cinema in the
world, is an impressive collection
of cinema across romantic comedy,
farce, drama, documentary, and
even a horror film, which is great
considering the quality of genre films
coming out of France at the moment.
Highlights of the festival include
the opening night film, François
Ozon’s Potiche, a comedy set in
the late-’70s starring Catherine
Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu; An
Ordinary Execution, documenting
the last days of Stalin’s dictatorship;
the (surprising) French box office
hit Of Gods And Men, about a group
of French Cistercian monks in
Algeria who become the target of
fundamentalist rebels; A View Of
Love, a thriller starring OSS 117’s
Jean Dujardin, Claudia Cardinale,
and The Diving Bell And The
Butterfly’s Marie-Josée Croze; Daniel
Auteuil in Donnant donnant (Fair Is
Fair); Isabelle Huppert in Sans queue
ni tête (Special Treatment); Crime
d’amour, with Kristen Scott-Thomas
and Ludivine Sagnier as rival office
executives; Jean Dujardin and
Irréversible’s Albert Dupontel in the
black comedy Le bruit des glaçons
(The Clink Of Ice); the blockbuster
Les petits mouchoirs (Little White
Lies), a dramady about friendship
starring Marion Cotillard (Public
Enemies), François Cluzet (Tell No
One), Gilles Lellouche (Mesrine),
and Jean Dujardin; the stunninglooking animated film Une vie de
chat (A Cat In Paris); The Arrivals, a
documentary Garnier described as
the real Welcome; and the horror
film La meute (The Pack), the trailer
of which boasts a deliciously twisted
joke and some crossing of the fourth
wall. Closing night film is yet to
be disclosed.

Transforming the Powerhouse’s Visy
Theatre into a 1990s club Slowdive
takes its audience on a confronting
journey through the Valley club
scene of that era. With no seating
the audience become sometimes
unwitting participants in the decline
of Marshall’s characters, herded
from one scene of debauchery to
another, watching dancers enact
scenes that are - with some comedic
reprieves - quite disturbing. The eerie
thing about Slowdive is that despite
the confronting material it’s feels
undeniably familiar.
In re-creating the atmosphere,
aesthetics, and feeling of a
club Marshall has been hugely
successful; her talent for the
theatrical is undeniable. Likewise
in creating a piece of dance-based,
immersive performance art that
manages to break down the usual
barriers in participatory art Marshall
has succeeded.

POTICHE

But the most impressive aspect of
Slowdive is not the dancing. What
is truly impressive about Slowdive
is how convincing and realistic
a replication of the sometimes
debauched night-time world it is.
Until 11 December

hen Dylan Thomas wrote
Under Milk Wood - written
as a radio play - he
was suffering the final throes of
alcoholism; a negligent, offensive,
nigh-on unbearable drunk, Thomas
nonetheless managed to imbue his
final piece with the euphony, humour
subversiveness that plunged the
unlikely Welshman into the literary
canon. It may be apocryphal, but the
story goes that his final discernable
words were “I’ve just drunk 18
straight whiskies; I think that’s the
record.” Fractal Theatre might not
be embracing method acting to the
degree that its actors are prepared
to attempt this record, but their
preparation for Under Milk Wood has
been thorough nonetheless.
Actor Jane Barry explains that while
the performers aren’t intending
on emulating Thomas’ capacity
to imbibe - at least not until the
cast party - they have taken on the
notoriously difficult Welsh accent and
brought the radio play to the stage.
“It’s quite a difficult accent to do,”
says Barry. “It’s really lyrical but it
takes a lot to get your head around.
We’ve had a lot of coaching though…
it’s taken about two or three months
[of rehearsals and voice training].”
It’s not only the mastering the Welsh
of the play’s inhabitants that’s a

36

challenge; Thomas wrote Under Milk
Wood with the undeniable linguistic
complexity of the poet he was. Vast
swathes of the text are the internal
musings of his characters as they
go about their days: dreaming;
reminiscing about past lovers;
conversing with their dead loved and unloved - ones; contemplating
their existences in an ostensibly
simple Welsh fishing village called
Llareggub. The name - if anyone was
worried that Thomas might have lost
his sense of humour in his final years
- is ‘bugger all’ spelt backwards.
“It has been challenging,” concedes
Barry. “But because we’re using
highly physical techniques, it melds
[it] together really well. Starting off in
that dream sequence; it’s essentially
a day in the life of this small Welsh
fishing village, but there’s certainly
nothing small about any of the
characters. They’re in a way so larger
than life, but in a way so relatable,
[with] all of their idiosyncrasies.”
Barry explains that - true to the
original version - each actor is taking
on multiple roles, distinguishing each
with an array of unexpected physical
methods - from mime to Kabukiinfused movement.
The production - which also features
13 young actors in the theatre’s

THE DAWN TREADER

THE CHRONICLES OF
NARNIA: THE
VOYAGE OF
THE DAWN
TREADER: 3D

first youth intern programme - has
clearly been a labour of love for the
rejuvenated Fractal Theatre and its
cast members. Despite the workload
Barry enthuses that the process has
thus far been one of most enjoyable
of her career. “It’s been wonderful,”
she says. “It’s one of my favourite
plays; it’s been really interesting
taking that play for voices and
transferring it onto the stage.”
Barry is equally enthusiastic about
the legendary playwright, waxing
a tad bit lyrical herself on the
Welshman’s abilities, particularly

in light of his now legendary - and
indeed infamous - relationship with
alcohol. “I imagine him up late at
night with a bottle of something,” she
laughs, “just churning these amazing
words out; I’m sure I wouldn’t be
able to come up with something as
beautiful if I drank that much.”
WHAT: Under Milk Wood
WHERE & WHEN: Dancing Tiger
Studio, Ipswich Saturday 11
December, Old Museum Building,
Brisbane Tuesday 14 to Friday 23

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader was
always one of the most bewitching
of the Narnia books. A frontrunner
favourite to all who delved deeper
than ‘Wardrobe, it brought to the
series a real sense of Narnia’s
immense scope, and not only of the
wonderfully interconnected world that
Lewis had created, but it reaffirmed
of the series enduring worth as an
important work of fantasy. So too,
not forgetting, did it enchant simply
with its Tolkien tale of a road-trip
on the high seas. The Dawn Treader
provided readers another glimpse into
the meta-world concepts explored
in The Magician’s Nephew - and
revealed in The Last Battle - with the

introduction of the mysterious Aslan’s
Country. We learned of the division
of Narnia into mortal and spiritual
worlds, and that life, whilst it has
for everyone an expiry date, is not
something that should be mourned,
nor lived without valour. This was the
book that explored Narnia as true
alternate universe; a ‘what if’ land in
which our moral myths actually lived.
And sadly, though in the scant
instances where Lewis’s smart
theological parallels were retained
there remains some of the book’s
beauty, most other things have been
lost. The pivotal scene in which
Eustace Scrubb – a name that lives
in odious-kid infamy alongside
greats like Augustus Gloop – has his
dragon’s skin removed by Aslan loses
all its cool, Cronenberg-ian bodyhorror potential, and, in all, the magic
is stuck back at the mothballed coats.
WHERE & WHEN: Screening in
cinemas now
SAM HOBSON

frontrow@timeoff.com.au

FILM

ON THE BRINK

REVIEW

TRENT BAUMANN, AKA THE BIRDMANN,
CHATS TO ALICE MUHLING AS HE PUTS THE
FINISHING TOUCHES ON HIS PERFORMANCE
FOR THE BRINK PARTY #2.

T
DEVIL

DEVIL
Quake, ye unbelievers, for the devil is
among us – but fortunately he’s stuck
in a lift in a high-rise office block.
Devil is the first in a somewhat
ambitious series of planned Twilight
Zone-esque movies based on stories
by M Night Shyamalan – whose track
record, let’s be brutally honest, has
been utterly abysmal in the last few
years. Happily, though, Devil is a lot
better than anything Night himself
has helmed recently (directing duties
go to John Erick Dowdle and the
screenplay’s by Brian Nelson).
Devil deals with five strangers stuck
in a lift while cops, security guards
and maintenance men labour to free
them. It soon becomes clear that
they’re not exactly what they seem
and all have chequered pasts. When
the lights go out for a few seconds

and one of them has been scratched
or bitten, panic sets in. One of these
people is really the devil – and if
the lights go out again, someone’s
getting slashed.
Devil is a simple enough story, told
in a straightforward, almost oldfashioned way, which is refreshing.
It’s not without its charms – its
largely unknown cast means anyone
could bow out at any time, which is a
godsend for a horror thriller. However
some of the dialogue is trite and
ropey and it never really fully sells
itself, forcing its characters to act in
unrealistic ways.
With Devil, ‘The Night Chronicles’
series has kicked off in mediocre, yet
promising, style and it remains to be
seen if it can go on to soar.
WHERE & WHEN: Screening in
cinemas now
BAZ McALISTER

he future is a gold-gilded
vaudevillian encounter, where
mime artists mix with neontube-swallowing space cowboys,
hoola-hooping DJs, and beat-surfing
robots. Okay, the bit about the robots
may have been made-up but the rest
will become a reality on Friday night
when the Judith Wright Centre hosts
The Brink Party #2. Following on from
the inaugural Brink Party in June
this year, the cabaret-circus-musical
extravaganza is back to wow and
woo enthusiastic party-goers. Getting
into the festive spirit and looking
forward to the robot-infused promises
of the New Year, The Brink Party #2 is
a one-night-only event, full of music,
mime, dance, delirium and oddity.
As navigator of the night-time future
exploration and curator of The Brink
Party #2, Trent Baumann, also known
as The Birdmann, is psyched to be
organising the spectacular for a local
audience. “It’s a night of wild oddity,”
Baumann explains. “With some of
the finest circus variety acts that
Brisbane has to offer.”
But be warned: this is not a
conventional performance. With
round-the-clock entertainment,
roving performers and DJs pumping
out the jams, it will be more of a
dance party than a solemn sit-down

show. As such, The Brink are
encouraging participants to get
involved by dressing-up. Baumann
promises “music, design elements
and fantastic acts” as part of the
eclectic night out. He says, “It’s a club
setting so we’re hoping that people
will come along and dress-up and
get into the new millennium vibe that
we’re exploring. A lot of the acts are
becoming a lot more eclectic and
a little bit experimental – they’re
trying some new things – but at the
same time they’ll be displaying skills
that they have been developing in
Brisbane and further a field in the
international circus scene.”
Of the many different performers
that Baumann has collated for the
party, he is most excited to see how
each act has interpreted the futuristic
theme. “It’s quite an honour this
time to be able to give everyone an
idea and see how they explore that
in different fashions. I look forward
to seeing the audience responses
as well. It’s definitely going to be
something you didn’t expect to see.”
When it came to picking the line-up,
Baumann had a plethora of local
names and faces to choose from.
“I lived in Brisbane for a long time
although I’m currently living in

Melbourne. I did my formative years
in Brisbane – training with the Rock
N Roll Circus and studying at QUT,
doing street shows and various
shows in little avant-garde comic
spaces like The Angry Mime at the
Brisbane Powerhouse.
“I got all the artists and collected
them up. They are people doing
interesting things on the circuit and
who would relish the opportunity and
would work well as an ensemble.”
As for Baumann’s own turn on the
stage, he is remaining mum on the
exact content of his act. “I’m putting
the final touches on my act. I’m also

trying to make sure everyone else is
okay as part of the curatorial role.”
So for Brisbane audiences who
prefer their theatre with a twist, their
song with a dance and their circus
with a flourish, it’s high time you
put on your best bedazzled silver
jumpsuit, cardboard-constructed
robot costume or just a nice pair of
slacks and headed on down to the
party of the millennium.
WHAT: The Brink Party #2
WHERE & WHEN: Judith Wright
Centre Friday 10 December

37

frontrow@timeoff.com.au

THERE WILL BE METAL

THE LOOKING

THE THIRD SEASON OF ADULT SWIM’S HEAVY
METAL SERIES METALOCALYPSE IS RELEASED
ON DVD THIS MONTH. BOB BAKER FISH TALKS
TO ITS MAIN CREATOR, BRENDAN SMALL.

WITH HELEN STRINGER

elcome to Metalocalypse,
where Dethklock are the
world’s biggest band, their
brand of extreme metal so popular
that they’re almost drowning in
drugs, money, and groupies.

W

When they hold a press conference
the world stops. By the end of the
second season they are the world’s
seventh largest economy. Not only do
they have their own masked minions,
they’re able to wander throughout the
world leaving a trail of murder and
destruction behind them. The thing is,
the band are so out of touch they often
have no idea what they are doing is
illegal. Oh yeah, Metalocalypse is an
Adult Swim cartoon.
“It’s not about metal, if you ask me,”
offers the show’s co-creator/writer/
voice actor/composer Brendan Small.
“The way I approach the episodes is
[that] it’s about celebrity. It’s about
five inept celebrities who are also
a family. I consider it a family show
when I write for it, about celebrities
who don’t know what day it is, who
don’t know what time it is, who don’t
open doors for themselves... I don’t
look at them like they’re stupid, it’s
just that they’re very good at some
things and very poor at others. Just
like everyone.”

38

He pauses to consider this statement.
“Okay, they’re also a little stupid,” he
concedes, “but I think they’re more
narcissistic, and that just clouds their
judgement constantly.”
That’s why in the first episode of
season three the band, sad about
declining world economy, job losses,
and increasing debt decide to stage
the most expensive concert ever - a
little like a band playing an enormous
concert, ‘in the round’, whilst their
country applies to the European
Union for a bailout.
“We said in the very first episode that
Dethklock is incapable of selling out,
they’re just making the world more
metal,” Small says. “As the economy
has been plummeting all around
the world wouldn’t it be the most
grotesque thing to spend money on
a concert? In fact, at one point they
blow up money and black truffles,
just because they can, because it’s
metal, it’s wrong to do it.”
Small had a very roundabout path
to Metalocalypse, graduating from
music school in Boston during the
height of grunge in the mid-’90s.
“It was very uncool to play a
guitar solo or have any virtuosity
whatsoever,” he says, laughing.
“It was a very dark time for guitar

players. So I put my guitar in its case
and said I don’t know what to do,
I guess I was going through some
musical identity crisis. So I started
doing stand-up comedy.”
It was through this that he met some
animators and started pitching shows.
Yet metal was also progressing,
getting heavier and better produced,
and eventually his two passions met.
In fact, in doing the show he has met
and worked with more than his share
of idols, even recording as Dethklock
and touring the US.

“The reason I get these people like,
let’s say Cannibal Corpse, or Arch
Enemy, or Enslaved or even guitar
heroes of mine like Satriani or Vai
or Slash, is because I think it’s fun
for the fans. We don’t draw them in
their likeness, we sneak them in. So
people could be like, ‘Oh that was
funny, oh that was King Diamond that
made me laugh!”
WHAT: Metalocalypse Season 3
(Adult Swim/Madman)

GLASS

Way back in the dark ages of 1996 a
little-known physics professor called
Alan Sokal had an intellectual tantrum.
Being a scientist his tantrum began
with a hypothesis: that postmodern
criticism was - to use the appropriate
technical language - a crock of shit
and that absolutely anything couched
in the correct jargon could pass itself
off as “postmodern”. His hypothesis
was tested and proven by writing a
nonsensical, fake academic article and
having it accepted and published in a
real - but still nonsensical - academic
journal. The art world, I think, needs a
Professor Sokal for itself.
When we go to art galleries we
expect to see art with a capital “A”:
and so we do, regardless of whether
it’s truly earned the label. A dirty
spoon in your own kitchen sink is
nothing more that a dirty spoon, but
a soiled piece of cutlery enlarged and
displayed in a gallery? That’s art.
Really, though, anything asserted with
enough authority and presented with
the right language can be mistaken
for fact; not because we’re generally
stupid, but because we’re genuinely
gullible. With the right jargon - and of
this I’ve no doubt galleries are fully
aware - it’s possible to be convinced
that pretty much anything is art: cutlery;
an empty room; randomly strewn
rubbish; bad fictional characters taken
out of context and artfully described.
Take for instance Edward Cullen,
he of the Twilight saga - an apt
noun usage if ever there was one.

In everyday language we might
describe him as a sparkly vegetarian
vampire trapped in an interminably
dull, perpetual adolescence, spending
his days avoiding every single
activity that’s thus far made vampire
mythology alluring. In comprehensible
language we might describe Mr.
Cullen with a veritable multitude of
adjectives: dull, paedophilic, noncombustible. But those words aren’t
sufficient to turn Edward “Sparkled,
Not Fried” Cullen into a piece of art.
For that we need to bring out the big
guns; we need jargon.
Instead of referring to Mr. Cullen
as an inexplicable abomination,
as a work of art he becomes “the
contemporary mythological meme”.
Instead of saying he’s sparkly like
a pale, human-shaped disco ball,
say instead that “the decoupage
of the aforementioned character is
a representative abstraction of the
mirrored self”. Rather than insisting
that dear Eddy is the product of bad
writing and good marketing, let’s
say he’s “the embodiment of the
paradoxical recidivism of Christian
morality and overt carnality”. The
words are - mostly - in the right place,
but it still doesn’t mean anything.
Jargon isn’t bad in itself; the word
is only employed pejoratively when
good words are plucked from their
natural habitat and strewn in an
incomprehensible mess. But let’s not
forget that art requires us to make up
our own minds; we need not listen to
the authorities when the authorities
don’t make any sense.

ARE YOU READY TO BE
BIG DAY OUT PROOF?
Defy everything that festival season throws at you with
the smartphone thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water and scratch resistant.

Chips, Dollar Bar, The Melniks, Pollen and Sekiden are the
ones we loved the most.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU
BEEN TOGETHER?

WHICH PUB OR BAR IN BRISBANE
ARE WE MOST LIKELY TO FIND YOU
FREQUENTING AS A GROUP?

Ash – guitarist

About four years now.

HOW DID YOU ALL MEET?

From playing in other bands together, and playing with
each other’s bands.

YOU’RE ON TOUR IN THE VAN –
WHICH BAND OR ARTIST IS GOING
TO KEEP THE MOST PEOPLE HAPPY IF
WE THROW THEM ON THE STEREO?
Probably the Wu-Tang Clan.

IF YOU COULD CHOOSE THE BAND’S
DESTINY HOW BIG WOULD YOU
GET – WOULD YOU CONQUER THE
WORLD OR BE HAPPY TO BE A
BIG FISH IN A SMALL POND?

Hopefully, one day, we can just take up residency in a cocktail
bar on a tropical island or archipelago.

WHICH BRISBANE BANDS BEFORE
YOU HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRATION
(MUSICALLY OR OTHERWISE)?

There have been many ﬁne Brisbane bands but Minimum

Probably the Junk Bar or Jeremiah’s Cafe...both are in Ashgrove,
both are awesome.

WHAT REALITY TV SHOW WOULD
YOU ENTER AS A BAND AND WHY?

The Running Man – Scotty would be Sub Zero, I’d be Buzzsaw,
Cam would be Dynamo, Dan would be Captain America and
Nathan would be Killian the host.

IF YOUR BAND HAD TO PLAY A TEAM
SPORT INSTEAD OF BEING MUSICIANS
WHICH SPORT WOULD IT BE AND WHY
WOULD YOU BE TRIUMPHANT?
That Mesoamerican ball game where you hit the ball with your
elbows – we have strong elbows.

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE FOR THE
BAND IN THE SHORT TERM?

Our album is coming out very soon on Loﬂy Records, you can have
a listen/download of some of the tracks from it at www.loﬂy.com.
Nova Scotia play Burst City on Friday Dec 10 and The Zoo
Sunday Jan 2
Photo by BRAD MARSELLOS.

Fans of 90s Canadian outﬁt The Tea Party and subsequent solo work of that band’s frontman Jeﬀ
Martin, pictured, must be ecstatic at his decision a couple of years to set up camp in Western Australia
– it’s meant that we see him in these parts more often than some of our own local acts. Th is time around
the legendary guitarist and songwriter has teamed up with Terepai Richmond – the jazz-inﬂuenced
drummer best known for his work with dIG and The Whitlams – for the Worlds Apart Tour. Expect
lots of esoteric jamming and atmospheric improvisation – plenty to please fans of both these esteemed
musicians. You can catch the duo at Coolangatta Hotel on Thursday (with support from Hazel Eyes
The Devil) and at The Hi-Fi on Friday night (ably assisted by local songstress Pear). Get into it!

Tonight at The Tivoli, a rumour accumulated that
a female member of the audience had pulled a gun
on another patron. It’s hard to believe given the lighthearted nature of the bands on show. How anyone
could have a shred of animosity in their bones
after tonight’s performance is a complete mystery.
Dopamine is so thick in the air it’s almost cleavable
with a knife.
Chucknee are doing their best to win over the
audience and not even paper aeroplanes will work.
It’s almost embarrassing; like watching the token
drunk family member make a fool of themselves at a
wedding. A misconstrued joke, or are they really that
bad? Most of the audience members think the latter.

SHARON JONES
AND THE DAP-KINGS,
VICTOR VALDES
THE TIVOLI: 05:12:10

Paprika helps set up a cool vibe from behind the
decks as a healthy early audience mingles casually.
They continue to chatter as Melbourne-via-Mexico
harp king Victor Valdes takes the stage ﬂanked
by a bassist and guitarist, which doesn’t bode well
given the natural volume of the acoustic ensemble is
so low. Towards the stage Valdes has more support,
his virtuosic harp playing touching on ﬂamenco,
merengue and Afro Cuban styles and whipping the
crowd into a frenzy. The rest of the venue takes heed
and by the time the passionate performance is done
Valdes has won scores of hearts.
Miss Goldie spins classic soul tunes and the crowd’s
excitement skyrockets before The Dap-Kings make
their way onto the stage, busting out a couple of teaser
tracks to raise the anticipation to fever pitch before
Sharon Jones dances into proceedings in a dazzling
sequined dress, launching into If You Call as the crowd
draws to a complete hush, hanging on each sweetlycrooned note. The next 80 minutes is packed to the
brim with taut funk breaks from the Dap-Kings and a
powerhouse performance from the pint-sized diva; her
voice is powerful, sweet and completely faultless.
It takes just two songs before Jones drags the ﬁrst
crowd member onstage, a young gentleman called up

to dance during Give It Back, but Jones quickly
gets a better idea and drags one of the venue’s burly
security guards onstage for a boogie to the crowd’s
delight. When the band drop into When I Come
Home, Jones exhibits her vast knowledge of 1960s
dancing styles; demonstrating the soul train, funky
chicken, pony and swim. Th is is followed by a
selection of the ﬁnest songs from their latest studio
record; The Game Gets Old, She Ain’t A Child
No More and title track I Learned The Hard Way
putting focus on the quality of song than purely
the performance. The majority of band alight
leaving Jones alone with guitarist Binky Griptite
and backing singers Sandra and Starr as Jones spins
an entertaining yarn before a gorgeous rendition
of Mama Don’t Like My Man, this toned down
moment doesn’t linger long though, the band
return for a revved up I’m Not Gonna Cry, in which
a string of ladies are invited to dance onstage –
most doing so with good spirit, though a couple
of show ponies invite themselves up, desperate for
their 15 seconds. When something falls out of a
girl’s pocket and Griptite leans down, picks it up
and returns it without missing a beat, it’s one of the
most endearing things you’ll see.

“You want to know why Australia is the best
country in the world? It’s the only country where
you can kick a dolphin!” Th is is just one of the
nuggets of comedic gold spurted from the mouths
of The Aquabats, as they boot around inﬂ atable
toys during their ﬁ nale Pool Party! Synth infused
punk, superhero pseudonyms and Hanna Barbera
style visuals – why the hell not! The quintet have
grown beyond a band – with their uniforms of blue
neoprene tops, masks, black pants and modiﬁed
bather caps they have evolved into something more
of a cult. They proceed to karate chop and ﬂy kick
their way through legions of the aestheticallychallenged undead (Fashion Zombies!) and hoards of
malevolent nerds (Nerd Alert!). MC Bat Commander
does exactly what his name entails: he commands the
crowd; ordering them to rain dance, make pizzas and
partake in various other mannerisms. The Aquabats
might not be the best punk act in the world but
they’re certainly one of the coolest.

As the set comes to a close, Jones leaves having
given her all, the band wrap things up in the
slickest of fashion and when the house lights come
up there’s not a face in the house not grinning. The
power of soul music is alive and well.

Reel Big Fish are a band that has never taken
themselves seriously – walking onstage to the
Superman theme is a clear indication. It’s all a
giant piss-take to them; the pranks free-ﬂowing
throughout the entire evening, ranging from the
band introducing themselves (to each-other), to a
one-minute rendition of Metallica’s Enter Sandman.
People just can’t resist the urge to dance and leap
about, causing a cascading wave of glute-shaking and
ﬂ ailing appendages that traverses all the way to the
back of the room. The sporadic blasts from the brass
section are as vivid and ﬂ amboyant as the rainbow
ﬂoral shirt that frontman Aaron Barrett is sporting.
Hell, they even managed to take Van Morrison’s
Brown Eyed Girl and inject it with new vibrancy.
Even the solemn number of Where Have You Been
appears playful. The encore of Suburban Rhythm
plays genre hopscotch; receiving thrash-punk, disco,
bluegrass and metal makeovers before their renowned
cover of A-Ha’s Take On Me invokes hysteria. If
happiness was a drug, there are a good 800+ people
who have overdosed.

DAN CONDON

SCOTT THOMPSON

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playing next at:

The BEETLE BAR
(Upper Roma Street - Backpackers Central)

Friday 17th December
with special Guests

Mick Medew and The Rumours
The Prehistorics (sydney)
The Dustbin Hoffmans
CD available at Gig

The foyer at Boondall is packed, a late doors time has
streams of fans impatiently waiting, by the time the
crowd surges down the stairs to the ﬂoor, Sydney’s The
Art are walking onto the stage. They seem like they’d
be the perfect ﬁt for tonight’s show, furious playing,
angst-ridden lyrics, and powerhouse drumming,
but as the mistimed strobe lights of I Wanna Know
ﬂicker, the crowd is visibly not impressed. They keep
the pressure on with Killing Time and Trigger but
it’s fruitless, the crowd tonight simply aren’t buying
it, maybe it’s the circulation stopping skinny jeans
the band shares, but regardless, the only cheer the
Newtown hipsters get is when they announce that it’s
their last song.
It doesn’t take long for the lights to dim again and The
Requiem echoes through the capacity crowd as a group
of shadows stroll into view and take place around the
many performance platforms dotted throughout the
stage, before the lights hit revealing Linkin Park
front pair, Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington,
amongst a deafening squeal from the crowd. It’s a
hip hop intro with Wretches And Kings, before trailing
back to their better-known hard rock roots in Paper
Cut and Given Up. After being onstage for nearly 30
minutes, the group ﬁnally acknowledges the crowd
with a simple “Hello Brisbane” before cutting straight
back into their extremely polished production with
No More Sorrow. Their spectacle is ﬂawless, arched
big screen scrolling live footage, a dazzling light show,
and not a single missed note, which is probably what
removes the atmosphere of the show. Only the crowd’s
enthusiasm is heightening the mood of the super-tight
and obviously very rehearsed performance. There is
no spontaneity – aside from one Chester Bennington
trip into the photo pit that was likely still written on
the setlist – little band interaction, and some horribly
awkward ‘rock’ moves from guitarist Brad Delson.

THE LEMONHEADS,
THE CANDLES
THE ZOO: 30.11.10

Josh Lattanzi is perched centre stage with an acoustic
guitar working his way through tracks from his band
The Candles’ debut album Between The Sounds. His
brand of indie-pop is undoubtedly suited to tonight’s
bill, but given he is also the bassist for the headline
act tonight it all seems like a bit of an afterthought.
Closing tune Waiting For The Truth proves his got
songwriting skills though and maybe he’ll pick up
some fans while down here.
It’s a mere couple of hours before the oﬃcial start of
another Queensland summer, big red letters emblazed
over a sign on the venue doors announces the venue is
packed to capacity and a crowd hungry for nostalgia
waits in anticipation for the classic 1992 record It’s
A Shame About Ray to be rolled out by Evan Dando
and whoever else makes up The Lemonheads these
days. While anticipation is high, expectations aren’t
necessarily so; Dando’s track record as a performer is
hit and miss to say the least, but as he wanders onstage
with drummer Stacy Jones and bassist Lattanzi, we
wait in hope. Then, that iconic descending guitar
line that opens Rockin’ Stroll blares with gusto from
Dando’s Marshall stack and all fears of a trainwreck
are immediately allayed. The record is played out
from start to ﬁnish with very few stoppages between
songs, Dando nails the entire performance – he hits
every sung note, every chord, every lead guitar break
and he actually looks somewhat animated behind that
ﬂowing hair.

MUSE,
DEAD LETTER CIRCUS

BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE:
05.12.10

With hundreds of people still ﬁlling the lobby, merch
stand and various bars peppered around the Brisbane
Entertainment Centre, Dead Letter Circus take to the
stage to a rapturous cheer from those present, and the
local collective duly deliver. With all the conﬁdence of
a band on the rise, vocalist Kim Benzie helps showcase
debut album This Is The Warning and in the process
cements their already loyal fanbase whilst picking up a
few stragglers along the way.
Said stragglers, however, are more than onboard for the
headliners. After a prolonged intermission extravagant
alt-rock trio Muse take to the stage with their unique
vision and interstellar set-up. With three “skyscrapers”
engulﬁng the stage the synth intro helps build tension
and anticipation. When the veils drop to reveal the
members on their individual podiums the crowd go
wild as Uprising starts. Frontman Matt Bellamy plays
with all the aplomb of a seasoned vet, leading his avid
followers into a trancelike, anthemic foray.
Most bands would slow it down a bit after such an
ambitious start. Muse, on the other hand, do not.
Rolling into the ﬂoaty and electriﬁed Map Of The
Problematique followed by the always impressive New
Born the boys are well-and-truly back in town. Their
lack of a sideshow when they appeared on these shores
for BDO earlier in the year is duly noted by drummer
Dominic Howard, which almost seems a master-stroke.
Why rush a sideshow when you can come back and give
the fans the full attention they deserve? And this modus
operandi was what they had come to do. And they do
not let us down.

There is a strong ﬂavour of more recent material from
their latest record A Thousand Suns, though it’s a
packed ﬁnish to the main set with Crawling and staple
One Step Closer. With an obvious encore approaching,
the bigger fans seem to know exactly what’s coming as
they shout Fallout before the band even returns, but
as the riﬀ of Bleed It Out rumbles the stadium seating,
the band ﬁnally letting their well-groomed hair down
slightly with a peak of energy before leaving the stage.
It’s unfortunate when a band lets their production
overshadow their performance, but hopefully for the
fans’ sake their next trip will shine brighter.
MARK BERESFORD

KORN, SYDONIA
THE TIVOLI: 03.12.10

Melbourne’s Sydonia get the crowd warmed up with
their listener-friendly brand of hard rock. There is
nothing terribly unique about the music they put on
oﬀer, yet their polished sound kicks many among
the crowd into action. By the end of the set there is
little doubt that the band have taken yet another step
towards greater success in this country.
The elated anticipation of the intimate crowd hits its
peak as the 4U intro swims out of the speaker stacks.
Moments later Korn take to the stage, unleashing
their mighty assault with the opener to the original
line-up’s last album; Right Now from Take A Look
In The Mirror. With the classic debut cut Need
To trailing, it’s evident that Korn have chosen to
extend upon the ﬂoor plan of their current album by
redirecting the focus of their live show back towards
the bottom-heavy sound that their legacy was built on.
The stage layout is a simple reﬂection of this attitude
as Jonathan Davis, Munky and Fieldy share the
spotlight with new drummer Ray Luzier, while their
second guitarist and keyboardist are banished to the
shadows.

Given the record doesn’t even clock in at half an hour
the band smash out plenty of other tunes to bulk up
the setlist. Classics like Big Gay Heart and Style from
1993’s Come On Feel The Lemonheads sit alongside
newer tracks like No Backbone and their cover of GG
Allin’s Layin’ Up With Linda. An incredible ﬁnishing
run of If I Could Talk I’ d Tell You, Stove, Into Your
Arms and the aforementioned Style cap things oﬀ
charmingly and Dando and friends leave the stage
triumphant. It’s great to see him in form.

Bellamy returns and after bouncing his spotlight into
the darkest corners of the BEC the band keep hitting
us with Time Is Running Out, Starlight and Plug In
Baby before the encore. Rolling with the punches the
crowd is noticeably exhausted but eager for more as
the threesome return to ﬁnish us oﬀ with Exogenesis:
Symphony Part 1, Stockholm Syndrome and the
spectacular Knights Of Cydonia. That ﬁnal track seems
to capture the overall deﬁant mood of the night in a
nutshell, as after being beaten black and blue by this
overwhelming performance the crowd still want more.

Korn III: Remember Who You Are may have been
somewhat of a let-down, however, Pop a Pill, Oildale,
and Let the Guilt Go feel at home in the live setting
and prove the new material to worthy of partial
redemption. While the earliest material gains the most
favour, the songs from the mid-point of their career
come across as being the most intriguing. The heaving
Here To Stay is ferocious in its low-down attack and
Falling Away From Me comes across brilliantly. Did
My Time keeps the thunder rolling before the doom
like crawl of Somebody Someone steals the show
entirely, pulsating with a lethargic, sonic-boom like
eﬀect that acts to envelope the entirety of the small
room within its mammoth sound. The band stay lively
throughout, working the moshpit into a frenzy that
is only encouraged by set ﬁnishes Helmet, Freak On
A Leash and Blind. The bagpipes sound the return of
the band for a classic Shoots And Ladders, Clown and
Got The Life encore that drives the old school devotees
to a point of sheer ecstasy. The exclusion of setlist
mainstays Good God and Throw Me Away is a tough
blow, but the fact that The Tivoli is the smallest venue
that Korn have played within Brisbane during their
17-year career is one that goes lengths to outweighing
any faults that could be found within this night.

DAN CONDON

BARRIE MORGAN

JAKE SUN

That’s one of the more exciting things about tonight’s
performance, it has been over 18 years since the
album’s release, but Dando actually delivers the
songs with the passion that they so clearly deserve.
Another refreshing element of the show is that the
renditions of the songs are faithful to the originals,
however they don’t have that lifeless quality that so
often stiﬂes songs when they are carbon copies of the
original recordings. The lethargic verse of Rudderless
explodes into its bouncy chorus and instantly reminds
us it is timeless, My Drug Buddy is met with a hearty
response, though when Dando oﬀers part of a chorus’
vocals to the audience in Bit Part it must be said that
they seem more unresponsive than seems just.

Supermassive Black Hole follows as everybody is notably
riled up. The combination of lasers, highly-strung
guitar and mesmeric drumming proves just right.
They almost transcend their mundane surroundings,
acting as a glimpse of some future band that wear silver
sequin pants. Feeling Good is a mid-set highlight and
acts as a somewhat temporary buﬀer from the chaos
that surrounds it. This spools into a rhythm section jam
session in Helsinki Jam which ﬁnds bassist Christopher
Wolstenholme and drummer Howard slowly revolve
and rise on the platform.

PRESENTS...
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Special Guests Last Dinosaurs

The stars of Brisbane Festival’s
Cantina show off their skills for
free in King George Square
In the week leading up to Christmas see Lady
Torpedo and the Big Swing Brothers perform
heart-stopping circus with a nod to vaudeville
and a wink to the future, supported by
Australia’s hottest swing band, Miguel.
Brisbane’s favourite youth circus, Flipside circus,
kick start the evening with an energetic mix of
traditional and contemporary circus.
DATE

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45

of musical variety, and when Every Fucking City
passes and the night closes with the tragic Everything’s
Turning To White everybody seems placated with
the ﬁrst batch of 25 songs. Nonetheless the extended
ovation leads to a three song encore (from amidst the
correct batch of letters, natch), meaning that instead of
100 songs over the course of proceedings we are about
to be treated to 112. Incredible...
The scene for night two is exactly the same as the night
before, except that the sign on the easel now reads F
instead of A. The two Kellys are dressed in derivations
of a theme throughout – Paul suited and dapper,
Dan more grungey in denim and t-shirts – and we
continue through the Fs: the moving Foggy Highway,
Forty Miles To Saturday Night and the acclaimed Kev
Carmody co-write From Little Things Big Things Grow
all early highlights. Even though he penned them all
even the older Kelly seems daunted by recalling the
nuances of so many songs – occasionally deferring to
his nephew to be reminded of chords and lyrics – but
it’s remarkable that he needs to be prompted for the
lines to From St Kilda To Kings Cross, one of his bestloved works. He laughs such mishaps oﬀ with eﬀortless
charm and nothing is derailed, entering what he refers
to as “the God patch” featuring tunes such as God Told
Me To and Glory Be To God, ﬁnishing the ﬁrst bracket
with the crowd-pleasing How To Make Gravy.

PAUL KELLY
A TO Z SHOW

BRISBANE POWERHOUSE THEATRE:
30.11.10 – 03.12.10

Whatever your loyalty to a particular artist,
setting out to watch them four nights in a row is a
somewhat daunting proposition. Especially when
every night’s performance is a separate program
of material, so you can’t rely on a clutch of your
favourite songs to be repeated over the duration.
As the crowd ﬁles into the Brisbane Powerhouse
Theatre on the opening night of Paul Kelly’s
renowned A To Z Show there’s a relaxed air of
anticipation. The stage is backed by a crumbling
brick facade – the exterior of the old building –
giving it a somewhat industrial vibe, and in front of
this backdrop are two microphones, a grand piano
oﬀ to the right and an easel adorned with a large
white card marked with an ornate letter A. Clearly
the alphabetical component of these shows isn’t
being left to chance, a sobering thought...
Before too long (now I’m getting into it) the
lights go down, the intro music ﬁres up and two
ﬁgures amble onto stage from the left – Paul
Kelly and his nephew Dan, who will be assisting
him over the next handful of nights. After a brief

MYLES AHEAD

If you’re a dedicated Nova listener then there’s every
chance you may have heard Smoke And Mirrors – the
latest single from Joel Myles – on the air lately. He’s
pretty chuﬀed about the attention but is moving on
quickly, with a whole bunch of new material all ready
to be road tested on audiences. He will be doing just
that as he lines up in solo mode at X&Y Bar this very
Saturday night, he will appear alongside Thousand
Needles In Red, who will also be there in stripped-back
acoustic mode. Entry is free!

introductory chat proceedings kick oﬀ with Adelaide,
a beautiful but aching song about a father’s passing
that would surely never be an opening gambit in a
non-alphabetical situation. While the bulk of the next
four nights is carried primarily along by just guitar
and voice the presence of the younger Kelly is integral
from the get-go, providing electric and acoustic
accompaniment where required (with the occasional
ukulele regalement) plus oﬀering subtle harmonies and
backing vocals which really break up the feel of the
sets. Anastasia Changes Her Mind is performed vocals
only – another ﬁne weapon in Kelly’s armoury – and
soon we’re pounding through the early stages of the
alphabet: Before Too Long, Blues For Skip and Bradman
all ﬂy by. Dan’s beautiful falsetto intro to Careless
elicits a huge response, and after Cities Of Texas Kelly
replaces the C on the easel with a big sign saying
‘Intermission’ and we’ve completed the ﬁrst section of
the marathon.
Kelly is eﬀortlessly charming throughout, seemingly
shy but oﬀering coy introductions and explanations
to many of the songs that he pulls out of his immense
bag of musical tricks. Night one continues, moving
through powerful numbers such as Desdemona, Don’t
Explain and Don’t Stand So Close To The Window,
before the well-known intro to Dumb Things
draws a massive response from the adoring crowd.
Kelly’s canon covers so many moods and styles that
proceedings never seem mundane despite the dearth

THIS PITOT WENT TO MARKET

The ambient gothic/folk soundscapes of the majestic
Simone Pitot will take hold of the Fortitude Valley
come Sunday afternoon as she, along with her singer
and guitar Matthew Palmer, will treat those who visit
the Valley Laneway Markets to the ﬁnest material in
their repertoire. The acoustic reworkings of this material,
much of which can be heard on Pitot’s recently-released
self-titled EP, is bound to have you entranced, so make
sure you’re around to catch one of their three sets at
11am, midday and 1pm and hear it for yourself.

John Darnielle (mainstay of indie heroes The
Mountain Goats [@mountain_goats]) is not
just an amazing lyricist but a really hilarious
guy as well, so he is a welcome addition to
the Twitter fold. Amongst his frequent urging
of followers to listen to obscure Italian metal,
he drops some great quips as well.

46

The third night kicks oﬀ with the gorgeous Love Never
Runs On Time, and it’s striking how well proceedings
have ﬂowed so far given the arbitrary alphabetical
nature of the song sequencing. Kelly laughingly
refers to this as the “diﬃcult third night” and that
it’s going to take us to “mysterious and weird places”,
but he quickly follows with the beautiful Luck and
the atmospheric Midnight Rain and all such fears
are quickly allayed. The snail-paced My Way Is To
You segues into No You, and Other People’s Houses
pre-empts a stunning solo version of Please Myself.
Kelly senior’s deft harmonica skills also act to break
up the feel of the music and the crowd is hushed and
delighted as he continues with Rally Round The Drum
and an amazing rendition of Randwick Bells. Audience
participation hits a highpoint as he has the crowd
whistling the clarinet parts of Shane Warne – possibly
the weakest moment of the whole four nights from
a purely songwriting perspective – but he quickly
redeems with Somebody’s Forgetting Somebody and an a
capella version of South Of Germany. Even the encore
tonight is righteous, featuring the playful Little Boy

The ﬁnal night brings mixed emotions – part
happiness that we’ve nearly survived this gruelling
series, tinged with a sadness that the amazing
spectacle is nearing its inevitable conclusion. The
entrancing Stupid Song quickly proves that anyone
who thinks that this is an exercise in quantity
over quality is severely deluded, and it’s impossible
not to marvel at the depth and breadth of Kelly’s
canon. Standing On The Street Of Early Sorrows hits
hard, as does Stolen Apples before Sydney From A
747 introduces a touch of levity to proceedings. A
gut-wrenching solo version of Sweet Guy leads into
the melodic Taught By Experts and the poignant
They Thought I Was Asleep. To Her Door proves to
be a crowd-pleaser – as it should – and they end
the bracket by overcoming the lack of a ‘V’ song by
renaming Thoughts In The Middle Of The Night as
Very Late.
As he’s done every night so far Kelly replaces the
water in front of him with a beer after intermission,
and he seems delighted and relieved that we’re
nearing the home straight. When I First Met Your
Ma hits early, and a dearth of ‘X’ songs is again
shrugged oﬀ by Paul anointing Dan as the ‘X
Factor’ and leaving him alone onstage to stun the
crowd with the his own track Bindi Irwin Apocalypse
Jam (which the crowd positively lap up, singing
the chorus with aplomb). Kelly returns to deliver
You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed on piano
and harp, before grabbing his acoustic and ﬁnally
breaking a string on You Can’t Take It With You.
You’re 39, You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine ﬁnally
leads into Zoe, and we’re nearly there, the two
Kellys returning for one ﬁnal foray and pumping
out Winter Coat, You’re So Fine – during which Paul
barks “clap your hands” and the audience responds,
clearly still entranced – and ﬁnishing things
superbly with the lovely Summer Rain.
So there you have it – an incredible four night
performance from one of Australia’s greatest ever
songwriters and performers, perfectly abetted by his
nephew and partner-in-crime. Ask yourself which
other beloved musicians you’d subject yourself to
such a marathon performance of their work, and
if you come up with more than a couple you’re
kidding yourself. You can do from Adelaide to Zoe
or you can pick an individual segment of the A To Z
Show and the result will be the same – an incredible
and uplifting experience. Paul Kelly is a natural
treasure, and it’s be an unmitigated delight spending
the best part of a week with him in these beautiful
surrounds. Til next time...
STEVE BELL

SIX
PACK
LACHLAN BELL TRIO
LACHLAN BELL, FROM LOCAL HAMMOND COMBO OUTFIT LACHLAN BELL
TRIO, EXPLAINS TO TONY MCMAHON WHERE HE STANDS IN THE TRADITIONAL
VERSUS CONTEMPORARY JAZZ ARGUMENT AND WHY QUEENSLAND
IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE MUSIC ON HIS NEW ALBUM TRANSIT.

TWEET OF
THE WEEK
“Daydreaming of
a world where all
trending topics are
also symptoms of
clinical depression.
#lossofappetite
#hypersomnia
#hopelessness”

We’re well and truly in a groove now as we continue
the second part of night two, Kelly oﬀering the
gorgeous I Close My Eyes And Think Of You and I’ d
Rather Go Blind early on as he powers through his slew
of songs starting with the preﬁ x “I”. We’re nearly ﬁve
hours in now and it’s still compelling, Jandamarra/
Pigeon being a late highlight of the set that ﬁnished
with the iconic Leaps And Bounds. Halfway there...

Don’t Lose Your Balls, Somewhere In The City – with
delightful ﬂamenco counterpoints from Dan – and
the powerful Look So Fine, Feel So Low.

Hill were inspired by the ease of connection to
nature that we enjoy in the region. Similarly, the
metropolitan elements of our lifestyle, such as
public transport, have also played an inspirational
role in our music. Transit (written by Anthony Ma,
our organist) and The Hub were both written about
life on buses and trains, which sometimes lines up
quite nicely and sometimes deﬁnitely doesn’t.”

YOUTUBE
OF THE
WEEK
DESCENDENTS. Austin, Nov 7, 2010
Punk rock demigods Descendents are going to be
in Australia for the ﬁrst time ever in a couple of
weeks’ time and it’s safe to say that there are a lot
of people very excited by this news. Along with the
excitement though is a dash of worry that, well,
they’re going to suck. But thanks to our old pal
YouTube such fears have been allayed; footage from
the Fun Fun Fun Fest that the band headlined
in Austin a month or so back has surfaced and
it shows a band of (admittedly old looking) guys
who absolutely tear the stage apart. Seriously, they
sound amazing; the versions of Myage and I’m The
One on this video will make your spine tingle.

When it comes to the never-ending argument
between traditional and contemporary jazz,
LBT are one of the few bands that refuse
to bed down in one camp or the other.
For those of us not familiar, Bell
explains the unique characteristics of
the Hammond combo sound.
“The Hammond combo sound is unique in the
jazz world, because the organist has the ability
to play bass lines, chords and melodies. Th is
means you get the great interaction that occurs
in a small group like a trio, but with many
more musical possibilities. The Hammond
organ also has quite a diﬀerent sound, and
it compliments electric guitar very well.”

“I think it’s very important to look at the roots
and traditions of any music when you’re trying
to perform in that style, but at the same time
it’s also important to recognise where the music
is at at the moment as well. Our intention
from the outset was to create a product which
represents a good cross-section of the music as
it stands today. Tunes such as Withdrawal are
ﬁrmly rooted in the swinging tradition of jazz,
but other pieces on the album like Please Stop
Talking have a distinct contemporary inﬂuence.”

Unusually for a jazz outﬁt, Bell says
a big part of his band’s inspiration
comes from his environment.

WHO: Lachlan Bell Trio

“As a Brisbanite, I ﬁnd myself endlessly traveling
from the city to various places across the state.
Pieces such as The River Fights Back and Whites

WHERE & WHEN: QPAC
Green Jam Friday Dec 10

WHAT: Transit (independent)

47

MIXING IT UP

If I Lie are a hard rocking band with a decidedly
modern approach – they have no interest in being
bogged down by genre, taking on inﬂuence from
blues, metal and other brands of hard rock. They have
just released their debut EP and are looking to get
around and show audiences all over what they have to
oﬀer on the live stage over the coming months. The
band have a US tour on the cards for early next year,
so make sure you catch them before they head over
there and make millions of fans/dollars and never
come back to their Gold Coast abodes. You can see
them tearing up Toowoomba’s Norville Hotel from
8pm this Saturday night.

SIX
PACK
PROFECY
LOCAL EMCEE PROFECY IS ABOUT TO LAUNCH HIS DEBUT CD,
LET THE MUSIC PLAY, AND, AS TONY MCMAHON DISCOVERS,
THIS IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE HIP HOP RELEASE.
producer Benno, who has worked with,
amongst others, Cam’Ron and SAS.
“I ﬁrst heard Benno’s work through songs he
did with US rapper Cam’Ron. I immediately
became a fan and threw his name into Google
to get his contact details. I originally emailed
him about producing one song for me but
after working on Oh Yeah, I knew that we
had to do more. He is an extremely versatile
and talented producer and I thought it would
be foolish not to do a whole EP with him.”

HE’LL ALWAYS
BE SMOKIN’
TO US
Joe Robinson seems to have dropped the
‘Smokin’’ from his name lately which we
reckon kinda sucks, but thankfully this young
guitar guru hasn’t let this change aﬀect his
music. He’s been a hit on stages all over the
world this year and will be kicking oﬀ 2011
with a big tour in which he will show oﬀ his
stunning new American band. Robinson will
have a new album out sometime in the middle
of next year so make sure you get along to one
of these shows to hear how the new material
stands up. You can catch Robinson with bassist
Bernard Harris and drummer Marcus Hill at
Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi on Wednesday Jan 5,
The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Thursday Jan 6,
Paradise Room, Gold Coast Arts Centre Friday
Jan 7 and Brisbane Powerhouse’s Visy Theatre
Saturday Jan 8.

So, what’s planned for the launch at The
Step Inn? Profecy seems intent on creating
something of a party atmosphere.

KEEP SEARCHING
The Suitcase Rummage markets have been a
real hit of late around Brisbane and the next
instalment is awfully exciting in that it will
be the very ﬁ rst time the markets will run in
conjunction with a gig! The organisers have put
together a cracking bill of local and interstate
talent for the occasion with Pear And The
Awkward Orchestra, pictured, Mckisko,
Yeo and Spookyland all taking to the stage
in amongst all of the rummaging to provide
some musical delights to what will surely be
a receptive audience. It happens at the Old
Museum from 7.30pm on Thursday evening
and entry is just $12.

Rather than rushing something out as soon as
he could, Profecy says that he was well aware
this was the record he would be judged by his
whole career. Consequently, he was careful
about getting things right ﬁrst time around.
“I started on the EP in March planning for a
release in June but I was constantly revising
songs and wanting everything to be perfect
so I kept pushing it back. There were a total
of ten songs that were recorded for the EP,
but I managed to narrow it down to ﬁve. At
the end of the day I’m happy with the result
and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
In order for the record to be even more
polished, Profecy enlisted the help of Belgian

PLAYTIME’S
OVER –
TIME TO
PLAY!

“There’s a whole bunch of local acts coming
out to support, including my good friend Jae
Druitt. NJE will also be launching his album
on the night. As for my set, I’m bringing
in a guest vocalist and Cam Bluﬀ (Vegas
Aces) will be on the turntables throughout
the set. You can expect the EP played in its
entirety, a couple of remixes and a brand new
party anthem produced by Cam Bluﬀ.”
WHO: Profecy
WHAT: Let The Music Play (Independent)
WHERE & WHEN: The Step
Inn Saturday Dec 11

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48

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49

KOOL TUNES

SIX
PACK
ZELITA
INFLUENCED BY FLOYD AND LED ZEP, ZELITA HAVE BURST OUT OF BRISBANE’S
WESTERN SUBURBS FOR AN ALL OUT AURAL ASSAULT ON INNERCITY
EARDRUMS. TONY MCMAHON CHATS TO BASSMAN ANDREW KELLIE.
are very laid back and don’t mind us practicing
hours on end. This has helped us to tighten
our sound for live performances. Living where
we live is an instant bonus for band bonding
because we aren’t restricted by time (when
hiring a rehearsal room), we are able to grab
some food (usually a gourmet BBQ feast) for
lunch before we start playing or for a break, and
we usually end the practice by having a game
of cricket, soccer or a visit to the local pub. We
aren’t the kind of band who just get together
for a jam and go home; we have become very
good mates and it shows in our music.”
In describing a Zelita live show, Kellie
says that it’s all about relaxing.
“Our songs are the antithesis of monotonous,”
says Kellie of his band’s dramatic sound. “We
have memorable transitions between riﬀ s and
chord patterns, instrumentals and verses, and
time changes within songs. Th is amounts to
a dramatic journey which leaves you satisﬁed
in so many ways. All our diﬀerent musical
inﬂuences, from Pink Floyd to Muse, shape
our songwriting. The progression in the
songs is due to these varying inﬂuences.”
Kellie also says that coming from
the western suburbs of Brissie has
dramatically eﬀected his band’s music.
“Living in the outer western suburbs we have a
nice relaxing area to practice, and the neighbours

“We like to describe our show as unforced,
which to us means that the show is as organic
as possible – every gig we do having diﬀerent
shenanigans on stage. In the background you
have Kiran (drums) going oﬀ his nut making
hitting skins look like the best thing in the
world, Jimmy (vocals) jumping around upfront doing all sorts of amazing things, Dan
(guitar) doing the silent genius thing, as it
has been described, not showing oﬀ with his
unique guitar work, and me giving my all.”
WHO: Zelita
WHERE & WHEN: The Block
(QUT Kelvin Grove) Friday Dec 10

HYH

HAVE YOU HEARD?

West End’s The Music Kafe provide a stage for
musicians of all persuasions to get up and have a
bash, giving over 25 acts per week a chance to ﬁnd
an audience, no matter what their style of music.
The venue have decided to document their personal
favourite pieces of work from those who have played
there over the past couple of years and will be releasing
a compilation CD featuring their 12 favourite tunes.
The CD will be launched at the venue on Sunday Dec
10 and will feature every act on the CD, including The
Herd Of Turtles, Kye Cole, The Lemonchili Project,
Bic Benedict, John’s Diary, Big Fella Linc, Panacea,
Anthony J Cox, Knights & Cavaliers, Steve Case,
The Brickﬁelds and Triplickit. Entry is free.

CHRISTMAS
TURKEYS
The team at Turkeyneck Records are once
again putting together a decidedly weird and
wonderful celebration of the festive season
this year as their annual Psychedelic Critmass
Party once again takes a hold of the city’s
ﬁnest appreciators of underground garage
music. Th is year the event will be held at the
Beetle Bar on Saturday Dec 18 and will feature
performances from some of the Turkeyneck
stable’s ﬁnest acts, such as The Pineapples
From The Dawn Of Time, The Vaginabillies,
Sydney’s The Prehistorics, Screamin’ Stevie’s
Australia, pictured, and the fabulous Wayne
Keys Show. Entry will set you back a cool ten
bucks, but if you’re one of the ﬁrst 50 payers
through the door then you’ll get yourself a free
CD as well. It all kicks oﬀ from 8pm.

If you’re the kind of person who is more inclined
to party to killer rock’n’roll than those rascally
techno beats on the biggest night of the year,
then you might want to think about getting
your arse out of the garage and into the Beetle
Bar on Roma Street this New Year’s Eve as the
new venue has assembled a whopper of a bill
for your listening pleasure. Spencer P Jones
is undoubtedly best known as the guitarist for
bands like The Johnnys and Beasts Of Bourbon
as well as his tenure with Paul Kelly, but he’s a
fantastic solo artist as he has proven on his many
visits to Brisbane over the years and we’re sure
he’ll be in ﬁne form on this particular night.
Joining him on the bill will be Mary Trembles,
New Jack Rubys, Sabrina Lawrie & The
Hunting Party, Galapogos and more still to
be announced. Friday Dec 31 is the date (just
in case you’re an idiot) and $15 is the amount of
money you will be required to hand over at the
door. The fun begins at 6pm.

Daze play Pigapolooza In Paradise at Billy’s Beach House, Gold Coast on Saturday Dec 11
How did you get together?
Dan Bartlett (lead guitar/vocals): “Nick
(vocals) and I got together about two years
ago, meeting through mutual friends – our
music tastes clicked and we started writing
and forming the songs before getting in Kim
(bass) and Toni (drums)... We’re lucky to have
members in the band with the same attitude
and taste in music.”
Sum up your musical sound in four words.
“...abstract....love...hate....emotional...”
If you could support any band in the
world – past or present – who would
it be?
“Hmmm, maybe Justin Bieber, so I could give
that kid a hard slap!”
You’re being sent into space, you can’t take

50

DIRTY NEW
YEARS

an iPod and there’s only room to bring one
album – which would it be?
“Tool –Aenima.”
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career
to date?
“Playing in Melbourne at The Espy is right up
there, that place has a great vibe.”
Why should people come and see
your band?
“For one everyone out there should always go
and check out a new original band, you never
know they could be your next favorites. And
we always go that extra mile to put on a show
that mixes intriguing band nudity, the latest
and insane 2010 dance moves, with a
splash of unique new age innovative
alternative sounds....”

STAMP OUT THE GENTLEMEN

Local act End To Chivalry have had an exciting
year with the release of their Post Monogamy CD
and plenty of live shows to go along with it, but
they’re not done yet. The band have just been
announced as the opening act for the big Electric
Horse and Engine Th ree Seven shows that are
happening south of Brisbane this weekend. The
bill was already a blinder but it’s just become even
more exciting with the addition of these fresh-faced
rockers, you can catch them doing their thing at
Byron Bay’s Great Northern Hotel on Friday night
before they head up to the Miami Shark Bar for a
massive Saturday night rock feast.

FURY OF THE STORM

Two key bands in Sydney’s rapidly growing brutal
tech death metal scene are breaking out of their
home city and looking to spread the good word
about their choice of genre as they head out on the
Harbingers Of Storm tour early next year. Ignite
The Ibex have just recently released their self-titled
debut, which has seen them compared to the likes
of Ion Dissonance, Meshuggah and Devolved while
Alice Th rough The Windshield Glass have been
busy assaulting audiences with their powerful live
shows. You can catch both of these bands when they
play Miami Tavern Friday Feb 4 with support from
Humality and then at the Step Inn on Saturday Feb
5 with Lynchmada.

SIX
PACK
BLONDE ON BLONDE
LOCAL ROCKERS BLONDE ON BLONDE ARE JOINING FELLOW BRISBANIANS DEAD
LETTER CIRCUS FOR A BRIEF TOUR AROUND THE BOTTOM END OF THE STATE.
MITCH KNOX CHATS TO JACK BRATT LITERALLY AS THEY HIT THE ROAD.

UP IN THE AIR

“We know a couple of the guys,” he explains.
“It’s quite surprising actually, our manager
got an email that said they’d been listening
to our stuﬀ and liked it, and they wanted
us to do some shows with them, which
is awesome because this is a mismatch,
stylistically, but I think we still complement
each other really well. It’s just been great
because we haven’t seen them in a little
while, and it’s just good to be on the road
with them and catch up with some old
friends and stuﬀ. It’s been really fun.”

Local singer-songwriter Andrew Morris simply
doesn’t stop and he has kindly let us know that he
will be spending his Sunday evenings in December
playing a residency, as is his wont, at plush local bar
The Sky Room. If you are looking for a good way to
wind down your weekend then you really can’t go
wrong with a bit of Moz and a couple of cocktails, so
head along and catch him doing his thing on Sunday
Dec 12 and Sunday Dec 19. Entry is free and it all
kicks oﬀ at 5pm.

SKATE TO LIVE,
LIVE TO SKATE

LET’S GET WET
Wet ‘N’ Wild is a much loved destination for
tourists and locals of all persuasions. It seems that
no one can resist the allure of a good old-fashioned
waterslide, not even if you’re the member of one
of the country’s most punishing sludgey hardcore
punk rock bands. When Canberra’s I Exist,
pictured, and Sydney’s Phantoms were last in our
part of the country, they made their way down
to the park and were so inspired that they both
wrote songs about the experience. The resulting
four tracks have been pressed up to a split 7” and
the two bands are hitting the road in support of it.
You can catch them hitting the Step Inn Thursday
Feb 10, presumably following a return visit to the
theme park.

The Kuraby Skate Park will be going nuts this
Sunday as the Museum of Brisbane present the
massive Kuraby Skate Park Party. Sure, there’ll be
skating demonstrations and a sausage sizzle, but
we’re most interested in letting you know that hip
hop group Folklaws will be performing live. Entry is
free, it all kicks oﬀ at 11am and it is open to people
of all ages, so get involved.

BOOKISH ORPHANS

Local alt-country balladeers Orphan Ann are setting
up shop in the Brisbane CBD’s branch of the Borders
book store this Saturday afternoon as they play
through a selection of the material from their debut
EP, which is set to be released very soon. Th is is
quite a special performance in that it marks the ﬁ rst
time that the band will be accompanied by multiinstrumentalist Matthew Colin, so head along to be
a part of history. The band will play three half-hour
sets of original tunes, kicking oﬀ from midday. Entry
is of course free and open to all ages.

Breakfast in a café in Coﬀs Harbour: the life of
the independent musician, right? Still, Jack Bratt
of local indie band Blonde On Blonde is sounding
pretty optimistic given the circumstances.
“We’re in Coﬀs Harbour tonight; we’re touring
with Dead Letter Circus, so we’re going to
Lismore today,” he says cheerily. “It’s only a
couple of hours away, so we’re just having some
brekky. It’s been good, it’s just three dates.”
Not to give undue credit to the old ‘it’s
not what you know, but who you know’
idea, Bratt is not ashamed to discuss his
band’s history with their touring mates.

So much fun, it would seem, that the main
reason Bratt can’t wait to get to Lismore right
now is because they have… a laundromat.
“Most of our clothes are full of sand,” he
laughs. “I was the responsible one; I went
to bed straight after the gig last night
because I’m usually the one who goes really
hard the ﬁrst night and just obliterates
myself … but I heard Future Of The Left
being blasted out of the tour van at 4:30
this morning and apparently they all went
down to the beach and got nude, so there’s
sand all through everybody’s shit. I’m
looking forward to doing some laundry.”
WHO: Blonde On Blonde
WHERE & WHEN: Surfers
Paradise Beer Garden Friday Dec
3, The Zoo Saturday Dec 18

51

WAKETHEDEAD
Hardcore and punk with Sarah Petchell
The Damned Things

Okay, this might not count as punk news, but I
loved Something Corporate back in the day so
I’m a little excited! Andrew McMahon, leader of
Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin, will
be touring Australia in February 2011. He will be
performing songs acoustically from his brilliant
solo career, along with hits from Something
Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin. The Brisbane
date for the show is Feb 10 and will be at The HiFi. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Dec 10.
Also on sale this Friday are tickets for the No
Surrender tour announced late last week. Taperjean
Records are bringing out Oh, Sleeper and The
Chariot for a run of shows in April 2011. The
tour will cover the major cities and regional dates
between Toowoomba and Perth, with shows
scheduled for Easter Fest in Toowoomba on
Friday Apr 22. Oh Sleeper last played Australia
in September, but to be honest I’m more excited
about seeing The Chariot. This will be their
ﬁrst time visiting our shores, and with now four
albums under their belts, it has been a long time
coming! Having just released, Long Live (Good
Fight/Riot!) I’m hoping to see a broad range of
music from across all four albums to make up for
their delay in getting here!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve
heard about The Damned Things. The band
features Anthrax members Scott Ian and Rob
Caggiano, Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley,
and Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Andy
Hurley. They have posted the ﬁrst video from
their forthcoming debut album, Ironicast, and
you need to YouTube that shit because it is the
funniest music video I have seen in a long time.
Anyway, the point of this particular piece of news

is to say that the album is out this Friday through
Mercury/EMI.
Between The Buried & Me frontman, Tommy
Rogers, is set to release his debut solo album on
Tuesday Feb 1 via Metal Blade Records/Riot!. If
you know anything about BTBAM, you know
that this guy has killer vocals and is a talented
multi-instrumentalist; so doing his own thing
was probably the next creative step for him to
take. Using the pseudonym Thomas Giles (Giles
being his middle name) as his moniker for the
project, the album is called Pulse. Rogers not
only self-produced the album, but also arranged,
composed and played all the instruments. Rogers
said, “I hope everyone enjoys this record, as I feel
there is something for everyone on it.” Keep an
eye out for the ﬁrst single from Pulse, which is
the introspective album opener, Sleep Shake. The
self-ﬁlmed and self-edited video for the track is
expected to drop any day now.
While he was at it, Rogers also dropped some
hints about what fans can expect from Between
The Buried & Me in 2011. “And don’t you all
worry;” he said, “BTBAM is writing new material
as I type. We have a very busy year 2011 planned,
which includes lots of new music and touring.”
Stay tuned!

GIG OF THE WEEK

This week’s Gig Of The Week is going to The
Paper & The Plane, who are playing at X&Y
Bar for Boys & Girls this Thursday Dec 9. I’m a
longtime fan of this band and with new material
on the way, now is a good time to check them
out and see what they have up their sleeves!
Also, special mention to Hot Water Music and
Bouncing Souls, who will undoubtedly be
ripping up The Zoo on Saturday night.
As a little footnote, I’m the editor of an online
punk and hardcore magazine called No Heroes.
Issue 8 went live last week, and features interviews
with Dangers, Dropsaw, Craigos from Midnight
Funeral Records, Strike Anywhere, Josh James of
Evergreen Terrace/Casey Jones and heaps more
stuﬀ. Check it out at http://www.noheroesmag.
com and click the link to the current issue.

ADAMANTIUMWOLF
Metal with Lochlan Watt
Humon ic

This week the Adamantium Wolf writes from
a Starbucks on the fringes of Shibuya, one of
Tokyo’s most hectic shopping districts. Last night
a band called Envy played a homecoming show
down the road after having spent quite a long
time touring overseas, and with a set that spanned
over approximately 130 minutes with no local
supports to a sold out venue, it was a surreal and
completely moving experience. Though they have
had their roots in hardcore since forming in 1992,
the band has more recently incorporated a lot of
post-rock into their sound, and it’s safe to say that
many metal heads would have something to gain
by listening to their latest album Recitation. The
drummer was also wearing a Corrupted shirt – a
pretty damn heavy sludge/doom band from Osaka
that sing almost exclusively in Spanish. Check
both bands out and cross your ﬁngers that Envy
come and tour Australia again sometime soon.
This Friday at Monstrothic, Victorian death
metallers Humonic make their return to
Queensland, and are reportedly not for the
faint of heart. Joining them will be Bane Of
Bedlam, Canberra thrashers Hellbringer,
and Mad Machine. Upstairs will see sets
from ambient rockers Echotide, hard-hitters
Ironbird, and Cry Havok. As usual $10 will
gain you entry to both levels from 8pm.
If glam rock is indeed your thing, head to The
Step Inn this Saturday for Glam Night Xmas. DJs
Hoops, Chops, and Speedball will be spinning
all your favorite 80s hits until the sun comes
up, with the $6 entry opening up from 9pm.
Motörhead and Zakk Wylde’s Black
Label Society will reportedly play at
The Tivoli on Sunday Apr 3.

52

Never a band to sit still in the one genre,
California’s metal/reggae/punk/hardcore/
hip-hop/whatever-else-they-can-make-ﬁtor-not group (hed)PE are bringing their
bombastic sounds and snarling attitude
back to Australia for a little run of shows
in January to support their eighth album,
Truth Rising. Joining them will be Sydney
rap metal group The Havknotz, who plan
to be launching their debut EP MUSIC –
LIFE – PAIN on the tour, and Melbourne’s
Recoil, who will be playing the opening slot.
Brisbane’s dreadlocked contingent can check
the line-up out at The Hi-Fi on Jan 28.
To make up for the recently cancelled Black
Mass Festival, Armageddon Festival will
take place on Feb 5 at The Factory Theatre,
Sydney. So far Nazxul, Astriaal, Drowning
The Light, Destruktor, Wardaemonic and
Erebus Enthroned have been announced,
with more acts TBC. Tickets are $35 and are
currently available from factorytheatre.com.au.
Local alternative rockers The Poisoners
have uploaded a new song entitled Love
Like Dreams of Falling to myspace.com/
theyoungpoisoners. These guys are hard at work
on a new album and will make their return to
the stage on Friday Dec 17 at Monstrothic.
Melbourne melodic death metal group
Orpheus has announced the details of their
forthcoming ten track debut album Bleed The
Way. They’ve been hard at work crafting the
release for nigh on two years, and it will see
the light of day mid-February through their
own Rockstar Records. You can check out
some samples and studio diary videos over at
myspace.com/orpheusmetaloz, which should
also be home to a full new song shortly.
Featuring Scott Moss of Minus Life fame
on vocals, Tria Mera have uploaded two
new tracks from their debut EP to myspace.
com/triameraband. Fans of Trivium, Lamb
Of God and other such modern-styled
acts are encouraged to go have a sniﬀ.

ROOTSDOWN

Blues ‘n’ roots with Dan Condon rootsdown@timeoff.com.au
The second announcement for Bluesfest has
dropped and while it’s not quite as big as
the ﬁrst (c’mon, Bob Dylan and BB King...)
it is still undeniably incredible. A lot of the
rumoured acts have been ﬁrmed up and sure
enough there are a couple of nice surprises
too. So it’s time for the second instalment
of the Roots Down Bluesfest mixtape!
TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS Pressure Drop
Okay, an obvious choice; frankly there are too
many amazing songs by this band but I can’t go
past this. Toots and The Maytals are true legends
of reggae and ska, forming in 1963, writing
and performing a string of hits through the
1960s and were even the ﬁrst band to put the
word ‘reggae’ in a song (1968’s Do The Reggay).
Pressure Drop is one of those rare songs that could
go for hours and you’d never tire of it; it’s so
breezy and carefree with such a solid rhythmic
backbone. They were great at Bluesfest in 2004
and they’ll be great in 2011, you can bet on it.
IRMA THOMAS Breakaway
She’s the queen of New Orleans soul and one
of the real highlights of this second Bluesfest
announcement. Irma Thomas released her
ﬁrst single way back in 1960 and followed up
with a string of incredible tunes throughout
the decade and through the 70s (the cheesy
production on her 1980s material can be a bit
hard to swallow). She’s renowned mainly for
her stunning ballads, but my favourite song
of hers is this stomping pop number that was
the b-side to her 1967 Wish Someone Would
Care single. Her and Mavis Staples will tear the
house down on the Sunday of the festival.
THE METERS Look Ka Py Py
Admittedly the Funky Meters who appear on
the Bluesfest bill aren’t quite the classic lineup of this legendary funk band, but with Art
Neville and George Porter Jr. on board I’m not
complaining. These guys are one of the most
legendary funk bands in history with a massive
collection of killer tunes, many of which have
been sampled heavily in modern hip hop.

This 1970 tune saw the band expand their
established sense of groove with some vicious
vocal spitting – beautiful stuﬀ from, for mine,
the most exciting addition to the Bluesfest bill.
BOOKER T & THE M.G.S Sing A Simple Song
And yet another living legend rears his head on
this announcement. Booker T was one of the key
ﬁgures in the establishment of the Stax Records
sound; writing and playing on plenty of great
records but it was with his band Booker T and
the M.G.s that he made the biggest splash. That
band have myriad iconic funky instrumental
soul tunes and Booker T’s killer organ sound the
perfect melodic calling card, this one I’ve chosen
is a Sly and The Family Stone cover (the majority
of the band’s material was cover versions) from
the band’s 1969 exploration into psych funk The
Booker T. Set. But frankly, you can’t go wrong with
just about anything they released in the 60s.
ZZ TOP La Grange
When ZZ Top played Bluesfest back in 2000,
they managed to make themselves more enemies
than friends. The band’s performance was
heavily critisiced by fans, critics – hell, just about
everyone who saw it considered it somewhat
of an abomination. But, they’re ZZ Top, they
deserve another goddamn chance. This choice
of track is obvious – but you can’t argue with a
classic. I hope the bearded ones deliver in 2011.
TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS
AVENUE Hurricane Season
He’s probably best known for his appearance in
the HBO series Treme but Trombone Shorty is
a force to be reckoned with as a live performer.
I caught him in the US earlier this year and
his infectious New Orleans funk has a modern
bent that will ensure he appeals to people of all
ages; he’ll be the party band ﬁnd of the fest for
many. This tune is a pretty good example of the
slick brand of N’awlins funk you can expect.
Bluesfest hits Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
Thursday 21 April to Monday 25 April

THEBREAKDOWN
Pop culture therapy with Adam Curley

What’s the diﬀerence between a dumb hipster and
a smart hipster? A dumb hipster will take ecstasy
with his friend and then make a two-hour ﬁlm
documenting their inane exploits and conversations
to show people. A smart hipster will charge people
$20 to watch it. Well, that is and isn’t true. A smart
hipster will also be able to defend the exercise, if
not with an explanation of its relevance to art/ﬁlm
theory then with hyper-elusive quotes intended to
reveal the questioner’s base ignorance of Life 2.0.
Tao Lin is a smart hipster. This month, through
a self-established ‘production company’ called
MDMA Films, Lin (author of 2009’s Shoplifting
From American Apparel and this year’s Richard
Yates) and his friend Megan Boyle set up a website
advertising a “feature ﬁlm” titled MDMA. The
website features a link to a two-minute Vimeo
trailer for MDMA, in which Lin and Boyle
interview each other, assumedly while ‘high on
ecstasy’, with questions such as, “Do you want
to ﬁght or kill anyone, and who?” (sic; and these
people are supposed to be NYU-educated), before
taking a trip to Times Square and walking around
saying things like, “Extreme mumblecore…
drugcore,” and yelling at strangers for directions to
Toys ‘R’ Us.
The website also gives you the option to purchase
a DVD of MDMA (released on Dec 20), as well as
ﬁlms scheduled for future production, including
BEBE ZEVA (referencing the teenaged Las Vegan
‘hottie’ featured many times on the Hipster Runoﬀ
blog – I think it’s now accepted knowledge that
Lin is Carles from Hipster Runoﬀ but I’m not
sure), MUMBLECORE and HEROIN. The ‘ﬁlms’
are US$20 each, $70 for all four or $100 for a
“lifetime subscription” to MDMA Films.
So, who wants to pay $20 to watch a couple of
New York 20-somethings get high? It’s a question
that has been rolling around in my head and I
can’t quite come up with any solid ‘for’ or ‘against’
arguments. Reaching the point of that being
the most relevant question in this scenario was
diﬃcult enough. Without having seen the entire
ﬁlm (yet?), it’s possibly remiss to muse on the
seeming self-absorption of the whole exercise, even
though that’s the obvious initial desire. That also
makes it impossible to ‘critique’ it as any kind of

documentary or ﬁlm with an overall ‘purpose’ for
the viewer, though I suspect that, if there is one,
it will be like Lin’s writing: a mirror-on-the-wall
to absurdism that is itself both too self-aware and
unaware to say clearly what it’s reﬂecting; both
perceptive and infuriating.
Based on the trailer, Lin and Boyle appear
‘likeable’ enough, if not slightly arrogant for the
way they grin knowingly while asking each other
and strangers stupid questions, but y’know, they
are on ecstasy, another fact that makes the trailer
conceivably relatable or in the realm of ‘fantasy
travel doco’ in the same way people watch Catriona
Rowntree on Getaway and wish they were on
Xanax in Fiji.
Then there’s the question of whether it’s really
worth discussing as a ﬁlm at all, but the ‘What
is ﬁlm?’ debate – or the ‘What is art?’ debate – is
both boring and stupid to get into without the
required space and research. However, there does
seem to now be a blur between the accepted
‘legitimacy’ of the instant Internet video diary
as ‘ﬁlm worth consideration’ and other, perhaps
more ‘traditional’, ﬁlm mediums that take time
and eﬀort to be released to the public. MDMA
seems to be somewhere between the two, though
beyond the editing process and marketing there
doesn’t appear to have been a huge amount of
thought involved, unless you count their combined
years of education, which perhaps we should
(which leads us back to having little idea what
the intention behind the ﬁlm is, if that matters,
besides some hyper-elusive interview responses
given by Lin on thelmagazine.com). It seems
relevant now to mention that in their press release
announcing MDMA Films, Lin and Boyle call
it “an ‘extreme mumblecore’/‘drugcore’/‘emo’
ﬁlm/documentary/‘event coverage’/production
company”.
So, without being able to really debate whether
MDMA is a ﬁlm or whether it’s a ﬁlm worth
thinking about beyond being potentially
“funny” (Lin’s word), we can really only debate
the commercial aspect of the venture. So, who
wants to pay $20 to watch a couple of New York
20-somethings get high? And does paying make
you a smart hipster or a dumb hipster?

FINISHING IN STYLE

Local group Alphabeticus are pretty damn happy
with the way their ﬁrst year has panned out and we
believe they have every right to be. They have brought
their blend of trip hop, groove and prog music to
local audience through quite a few well received live
shows and now the next piece of the puzzle is set for
the beginning part of next year. The band will release
their debut EP early in 2011 and you’ll be able to hear
plenty of material from it when they drop by Ric’s Bar
on Wednesday Dec 22. Of course they won’t be alone,
local electronic gurus Phantasm join in the fun, as do
New Zealand indie-pop duo drdr. Entry is free and it
kicks oﬀ at 8pm.

THE WINNING
SOUND
The winners of the Sunset Sounds Foster Band
Initiative, which saw a bunch of quality local
acts pitted against each other in a ﬁght to the
death battle for votes from the public, have been
announced with Charlie Mayfair, pictured, and
Ball Park Music scoring themselves the two
opening slots on the bill. They beat out some stiﬀ
competition and we hear that Inland Sea and
The Liars Chair only just missed out. The festival
hits the Brisbane Riverstage and City Botanic
Gardens Wednesday Jan 5 and Thursday Jan 6.

SIX
PACK
SHEDDING SKINS
Melbourne duo Clavians call their brand
of music ‘jungle-punk’ and they have been
thrashing stages, ripping parties and melting
faces all over Victoria for the past two years
with this particular ferocious style of music.
They have a new single called Skins out now,
lifted from their forthcoming EP and now they
are ﬁnally coming up to show us what they’ve
got. Come see what this fuzzy guitar and drum
two-piece is all about as they make their debut
Brisbane performance at The Club House (which
is at the GPO Hotel at the moment) on Friday
night. Playing alongside them will be local
post-punk favourites Quiet Steps and Sydney
rock shredders Chicks Who Love Guns. Doors
open at 8pm. If you’re out of town then you can
catch the band at Toowoomba’s Bon Amici on
Saturday night and down in Byron at the Great
Northern Hotel on Sunday night.

CHRIS MALLORY
IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING FROM IDEA TO FINISHED PRODUCT BUT
CHRIS MALLORY’S DEBUT EP FOR GREGORY IS READY TO BE ENJOYED. MITCH KNOX
CATCHES UP WITH THE SINGER-SONGWRITER BEFORE HE ENGAGES CROWDS
AROUND THE STATE AND HONOURS HIS LATE BROTHER’S MEMORY WITH HIS MUSIC.
Written in honour of his brother Gregory, who
passed away in 2006, Mallory says penning
the music for the EP (especially its title track)
was certainly at least partially a process of
catharsis: “through this project I have been
able to give the melody and lyrics I ﬁrst heard
in my head a complete cohesive structure to
express very strong emotions,” he explains;
although, that might be true of all of Mallory’s
songs. “I guess for me, the act of writing a song
is a very personal and emotional experience,
so in order to get into the right headspace for
creating, I ﬁnd it easier to start with what is
going on with me and my life at the time.”
As for the launch itself, Mallory is aiming
to, “hopefully [deliver] an experience that
will move you in some way. I write songs
for myself, but I perform them so that other
people can relate to them and hopefully
ﬁnd something similar in their own life;
be it about loss, love, or having a silly
crush on a girl that works in the IGA.”

GIVE IN TO THE SIN

With a sound derived from their love of AC/DC,
Motörhead, Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses all
delivered with the attitude of punk rockers such as Sex
Pistols, Ramones and Dead Boys, it’s pretty obvious
that the live show that Sydney’s L.U.S.T will bring to
us up here in Brisbane is going to be pretty nuts! The
band haven’t been up here since their support slot with
Ace Frehley a couple of years back, so they’ve got some
lost time to make up for. Th ankfully they’ll be here
with a ﬁve-track EP in hand, featuring tunes from
their debut album First Tattoo, which was recorded by
the legendary Ulrich Wild and will be released early
next year. The band make a quick stop into the Step
Inn on Friday night and the Swell Tavern, Burleigh
Heads on Saturday night.

“Although I have been planning to do a recording
since graduating uni in 2008 I have actually
only been working on this EP project in earnest
with my producer Matt Larner for the past 12
months,” Mallory says of the development of the
EP. “That being said, I feel a mixture of relief and
excitement. The relief is from ﬁnally being able
to move on from this project. The excitement is
because I will soon be able to give out copies of
the last 12 months’ work to people to enjoy.”

TO ENTER: Competition opens Tuesday 2 November.
Create your impression of an artist on the current Big Day Out schedule and upload
your entry at summerfestivalguide.com.au (go to the Big Day Art section).
WIN: Time Off cover art. Artist proﬁle. Double pass to the BDO Festival.
A cd prize pack – the latest releases from BDO artists. Design software for each state winner.
Free entry to a CATC Workshop for each state winner.
ENTRIES CLOSE FRIDAY 7 JANUARY

MELBOURNE
SYDNEY
BRISBANE

53

HYH

GETTIN’ COMFY with BEN SALTER
Artist name: Ben P. Salter
What is it about the venue that makes you
want to do a run of shows there?
They asked me.

HAVE YOU
HEARD?

Same set every week or mixing it up?
Same time every week, three weeks in a row. 6pm
to 7pm on Fridays.
Any special guests going to make an
appearance during your tenure?
Yeah, probably get various members of all my
bands up for a song at some stage or another, but
I’ll be regularly accompanied by Bridget Lewis
and Conor Macdonald of The Gin Club, two of
my best BFF besties 4 eva.
Favourite position at the venue when
you’re not on stage?
Prone.
What have you been up to of late?
I have just got home from about a month of fairly
intensive touring with The Gin Club; prior to
that I was recording the solo album and playing
some solo shows. Lately I’m just hanging in bed
with my cat, Stubbs, playing Word Challenge
on Facebook. Top score is about 30,000 so far. I
challenge your readers to best this.

Stonemason play Pigapolooza In
Paradise @ Billy’s Beach House,
Gold Coast on Saturday Dec 11 and
EpicAtNite Foam Party @ Epic Skate,
Tweed Heads (all ages) on Saturday
Dec 18
How did you get together?
Phoebe Parkinson (vocals/synthesiser): “By
playing Smoke On The Water in music class.
We’re easily impressed.”

You’re being sent into space, you can’t
take an iPod and there’s only room to
bring one album – which would it be?
“Rude ultimatum, man but I’d deﬁnitely
spoon my pillow listening to Illuminate
by Lydia.”
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your
career to date?
“Sniﬃng talcum powder with Bardot. We
didn’t, but we need the street cred.”
Why should people come and see
your band?
“Have you ever seen a band play on talcum
powder?”

THIS IS JAZZ COUNTRY

The match of the smooth jazz singing Sarah Collier
and alt-country singer Steve Case may seem like
something of a strange one, but since hooking up
around a year ago the two artists have played a bunch
of well-received shows and cobbled together some ﬁne
material between them. These two great local artists
will front up at West End’s Inspire Gallery Bar on
Saturday evening to show that the bridge between
their respective musical forms is not a hard one to
cross. It promises to be laid back and intimate, so head
on over to the Vulture Street hang out from 7.30pm
and watch it all unfold.

54

Join us for a fun night celebrating Zed’s 35th year
on air together, looking back on the wonderful
achievements of the station and also looking
forward to our bright future woohoo! We will be
taking over Studio 3 at the Old Museum from
6pm tonight (Wednesday Dec 8) to catch up
with old friends and make new ones, ticket price
includes fantastic catering by Nundah Espresso
Train and there will be booze provided by our
friends at Brews Brothers. Entertainment will be
provided by the Porridge crew, which will also be
broadcast live on 4ZZZ for part of the evening
Tickets are limited to 300 people so please
get in quick: www.4zzzfm.org.au.

HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY 4ZZZ
4ZZZ is very excited to present our Happy
35th Birthday 4ZZZ event this Saturday
night! Joining Ozi Batla, DZ, Laneous & The
Family Yah and Pastel Blaze will be local acts
Last Dinosaurs and Oh Ye Denver Birds.
Catch them all and help us cut the cake
on Saturday Dec 11 at The Tivoli. Doors
are at 6pm with ﬁrst band on 6:30pm.
Tickets are $15 Subs or $20 non subs, including
booking fees and available from www.4zzzfm.
org.au and www.thetivoli.net.au.
All subscribers who book online through
4ZZZ will also go into the draw to
WIN a pretty rad merch pack.

Sum up your musical sound in
four words.
“Everything you’ve ever needed.”
If you could support any band in the
world – past or present – who would
it be?
“Goodness. I’m really digging The Dead
Weather at the moe joe so I’ll probably run
with that. The Dead Weather.”

PARTY-AC ARREST!

HOT 100

ON THE DOWNLOAD
PJ Harvey – Written On the Forehead
One of the most anticipated releases of 2011 is bound to be PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake. The
ﬁrst taste of it has surfaced online with Polly Jean throwing the ﬁrst single from it up on her
SoundCloud page and it’s quite an absorbing listen. A frail sounding Polly Jean is only just audible
over hefty swells of keyboards as all sorts of vocal samples play out in the background, just far
enough away for you to have no fucking idea what’s going on. [soundcloud.com/pjharvey]
Harmony – Cacophonous Vibes
Harmony is the brand new Melbourne based project from The Nation Blue’s Tom Lyngcoln and early listens
show that it’s something very diﬀerent to what you are most likely expecting. Lyngcoln has thrown a track
called Cacophonous Vibes from their forthcoming release up on their Bandcamp site and while it has a tiny
bit of that abrasive touch we’ve come to know and love from Lyngcoln’s work, all in all it’s a soulful little
ditty that recalls a rough and ready Sam Cooke fronting an epic rock band. It’s intriguing to say the least and
deﬁnitely worth your time. The band play their ﬁrst show in Melbourne next week. [harmony.bandcamp.com]
Los Campesinos! – Too Many Flesh Suppers
One of the ﬁner indie-rock records to come out of the UK this year was the latest eﬀort from Los
Campesinos!, Romance Is Boring. The title track from that record was a highlight and was released as a
single but, as the band put it, no one bought it. As such they have generously decided to put the b-side
of the single up on their SoundCloud page. It’s as good as plenty of the material from that record,
plenty of awkward violin, deep bass and awkward rhythmic changes holding interest for its duration;
but you must be warned, if you can’t stand leader Gareth Campesinos!’s voice you’re going to want to
stab yourself repeatedly in the ears by the end of the ﬁrst verse. [soundcloud.com/los-campesinos]
David Lynch – Good Day Today
David Lynch is one of the most revered ﬁlm and television directors of our time; from Eraserhead to Twin
Peaks to Mulholland Drive, the guy has made some seriously incredible stuﬀ and attracted many diehard
fans across the globe. It has been revealed that Lynch has produced a song, an electro pop tune called
Good Day Today that features him singing (with a whole lot of vocoder, mind you). There will be those
who believe that everything Lynch touches turns to gold, but really this tune is unforgivably insipid. It’s
lyrically dull and has absolutely nothing musically interesting going on for the painful four-and-a-half
minutes. Go and make another ﬁlm, please. [soundcloud.com/threeminutesthirtyseconds/good-day-today]

It’s that time of year again! We are ready to count
down the top 100 songs of 2010. Broadcast on New
Year’s Day from midday, 4ZZZ is asking you to cast
your votes before Friday Dec 24. Get online and
vote through our online system, email us your picks
or even post (what’s that you say?) them in!
Checkout www.4zzzfm.org.au for all the info.

TIME WARP

Dec 8, 1980 – In New York City Mark

David Chapman shoots and kills John Lennon.

Dec 9, 1967 – Jim Morrison is arrested

onstage in Connecticut, and charged with
breach of peace and resisting arrest.
Dec 10, 1967 – Otis Redding, age 26, is
killed when his plane crashes into a Wisconsin lake.
Redding’s band, the “Bar-Kays”, are also killed.
Dec 11, 1998 – Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs)
sustains a fracture to the base of his skull in Austin,
Texas. after an altercation with a security guard.
Dec 12, 1970 – Little Richard is charged with
“larceny by trick” in Miami Beach, by Blacks, Inc.
The group claims he pocketed $250 he solicited
for the group. The charges are later dropped.
Dec 13, 2001 – Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and
David Grohl ﬁle a countersuit against Courtney
Love, claiming she manipulated the memory and
work of Kurt Cobain, for the beneﬁt of her career.
Dec 14, 1995 – Classiﬁed documents
from the White House are released that revealed
the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his
anti-war activities during the early 70s.

SIX
PACK
THE VAUDEVILLE SMASH
MELBURNIAN OUTFIT THE VAUDEVILLE SMASH IS RETURNING TO
QUEENSLAND THIS MONTH TO ENTERTAIN US STIFF-NECKED NORTHERNERS
– NOT THAT THEY NEED THE WORK, APPARENTLY. VOCALIST MARC
LUCCHESI CHATS WITH MITCH KNOX BEFORE THEY ROLL INTO TOWN.

“It’s been pretty busy actually, and a lot of good
things,” Lucchesi says of recent events in the world
of The Vaudeville Smash. “I suppose the number
one fun thing that’s gone on is that we’re going
to South By Southwest in March. That was a bit
of a surprise; they just invited us. The guy liked
our stuﬀ – the email he sent Kelly, our manager,
was, ‘Y’all kill me’; I’m imagining this big Texan
with a mo’ and a big cowboy hat. But that was
exciting. So we’re sort of just preparing for that
and trying to do as much as we can to make it
worthwhile, because it could be a stinker; it’s up
to you. On top of that, we’ve got an EP coming
out in Feb, and a tour around that, but before the
year is over we’ve got another little tour as well.”
In between all of that, they’ll be stopping oﬀ
in Adelaide to ring in the New Year as well as
keeping home audiences happy with regular
shows in Melbourne. With the obvious chops

56

behind them to warrant all these shows,
Lucchesi is unapologetically clear (except about
the band’s genre – “we’ve coined a new term,
called ‘nu-vo yacht rock’,” he laughs) about
what you should expect when you walk through
the doors to a Vaudeville Smash show.
“To dance, number one,” he emphasises. “It’s a bit
of a party; we always work better when people are
sort of drinking and inclined to have a boogie, but
yeah; you know, the show’s very energetic, and it
is a show; it’s not just a bunch of dudes standing
up there playing their instruments. It’s a show!”
WHO: The Vaudeville Smash
WHERE & WHEN: The Loft, Gold Coast
Thursday Dec 9, Ric’s Bar Friday Dec 10, The
Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Saturday Dec 11

ON THE
TIME OFF STEREO

CEILING LOOMS

The Waterfront Years 1991-1993 TUMBLEWEED
Tyrannosaurus Hives THE HIVES
We Got All Things That Are Good SOLE STICKERS
Grown Unknown LIA ICES
In The Pines THE TRIFFIDS
Emotionalism THE AVETT BROTHERS
Everything I’ve Always Wanted MARTY ROBBINS
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy KANYE WEST
I WET STALLIONS
I Learned The Hard Way SHARON
JONES & THE DAP-KINGS

Local indie-noise quartet Loomer have turned
plenty of heads with their live performances over
the years and it is with great excitement that
the band ﬁnally announces the launch of their
debut album Ceiling. The record has been in the
making for what seems like an eternity now, but
as the band’s sound has grown the record has
evolved to ensure it fully represents the band
as they are today. A strikingly mature release,
Ceiling matches the band’s ear shattering wallof-noise guitars with their superb understated
vocals to culminate in something that is quite
stunning. The band will launch the record with
special guests Sydney’s Straight Arrows at
Woodland on Friday Dec 17.

Palmer etc. It’s probably sitting in a Salvo’s store
somewhere.
RECORD YOU PUT ON WHEN YOU’RE
REALLY MISERABLE?
Solomon Burke’s Don’t Give Up on Me or any Bill
Evans album – he’s my favourite late night, feeling
low musician. What a piano player – so tasty.
RECORD YOU PUT ON WHEN YOU BRING
SOMEONE HOME?
The Necks’ Sex. About an hour of a hypnotic,
repetitive, simple bass riﬀ with Tony Buck’s
constant percussion and Chris Abraham’s
imaginative piano – I’m usually asleep after a few
minutes though!

BEST RECORD YOU STOLE FROM YOUR
FOLKS’ COLLECTION?
There were so many – my parents’ records were
kept in order standing up in rows that covered
most of our loungeroom: they’re easier to ﬂick
through that way as opposed to reading the spine.
I was starting out on guitar and into the blues
and there was this album by Eddie Boyd which
he recorded with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (the
Peter Green years) while he was in the UK. That’s
something I still love to play.
FIRST RECORD YOU BOUGHT?
Probably Hits Of ’86 on LP. Bit of Lionel
Richie, Simple Minds, Dionne Warwick, Robert

62

MOST SURPRISING RECORD IN YOUR
COLLECTION?
People that know me wouldn’t be surprised by any
of them but maybe the ﬁrst NERD record? I didn’t
like the single but that song Am I High sounds
like The Beach Boys in a modern R’n’B context –
Pharrell Williams is such a great producer.
LAST THING YOU BOUGHT/
DOWNLOADED?
The last thing I bought physically was Ry Cooder’s
ﬁrst album from Egg Records in town. The last
iTunes download was Brian Eno’s new album. The
Ry Cooder album is getting more play than Brian.
The Wilson Pickers play The Globe Theatre on
Thursday Dec 9

43

BEHIND THE LINES
THE RAT RACE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

BEHIND THE LINES
WITH MICHAEL SMITH
BTL@STREETPRESS.COM.AU

THE CAVERNOUS LOW ANTHEM

Recording in unlikely places seems to have become
the thing to do in order to find a new sound. The
latest example is American indie folk band The Low
Anthem who, after surveying dozens of spaces,
took their portable recording studio into a cavernous,
vacant pasta sauce factory in Central Falls in their
home state Rhode Island to record, over 40 days and
nights, their forthcoming album, Smart Flesh, with
additional tracking done in a Providence, Rhode Island
garage. While the four multi-instrumentalists that
make up The Low Anthem took care of producing the
album, it was mixed in Omaha, Nebraska by Mike
Mogis, whose credits include Bright Eyes, of which
he is a member, and Monsters Of Folk, at his Presto!
Recording Studios, with additional mixing done by
engineer Jesse Lauter, who helped the band set up
their studio in a pasta sauce factory, in New York.
As band member Ben Knox Miller explains in the
official press release, they were looking at the space
in which they were recording to effectively be “the
main instrument for the whole record. We were able to
experiment with new recording techniques to capture
the sound at different distances. Mics 100, even 200
feet away caught the sound barrelling across the
room.” The album will be released end of February.

SHURE NOW BETA

Renowned for its solid live vocal performance
microphones, Shure has just released four new
instrument mics in its Beta range, distributed
in Australia by Jands. The Beta 91A has been
designed specifically with the bass or kick drum
in mind. Using a half-cardioid condenser boundary
mic with an integrated XLR preamp, it’s tailored for
a strong low-end response. There’s a two-position
contour switch for optimising the sound signature
and can also be used for other low frequency
applications, like piano. The Beta 98A/C is a highoutput miniature cardioid condenser mic ideal for a
variety of instruments where warm, natural sound
reproduction is essential, like percussion, piano,
reed, wind and string instruments. The Beta 98AD/C
similarly uses a miniature cardioid condenser mic
that uses an extremely uniform cardioid polar patter
that provides excellent gain-before-feedback and
off-axis rejection of unwanted noise, so is ideal for
toms, snare drum and percussion, while the Beta
181 is an ultra compact, small diaphragm sideaddress condenser mic with four interchangeable
capsules that offer different polar positions thus
allowing discreet placement and versatility in tight
conditions, a multi-purpose mic that can be used right
across the board from guitars to bass to drums.

READ ABOUT RUBIN

If there’s a producer who refuses to allow himself
to get pinned down to a particular genre, it’s the
multi-Grammy Award-winning Rick Rubin, whose
name appears there right up front on the new
album, Illuminations, from American classical pop
phenomenon Josh Groban. From DJing with the
Beastie Boys and cofounding Def Jam Records to
producing metal giants Danzig, Slayer and Metallica
through funksters Red Hot Chili Peppers to setting
up American Recordings and reviving the careers
of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond, he’s even
produced Shakira and The Dixie Chicks. So it’s well
worth seeking out Rick Rubin: In The Studio (ECW
Press), a comprehensive look at the art and craft
of the producer by Nashville-based rock biographer
Jake Brown, chock full of behind the scenes
stories on the making of some of these albums.

SOUND BYTES

German-born grand-nephew of the legendary
Django, Lulo Reinhardt recorded his latest album,
Katoomba Birds, with his Australian-based Latin Swing
Project at INRok Studios in Sydney, co-producing
it with the band’s pianist Sean Mackenzie and
recording engineer Christopher Soulos, who
also mixed it with Noel Elmowy, who himself
mastered the disc inhouse with Keith Williams.
Melbourne’s The Resignators took themselves
off to Montreal, Canada to record their latest
album, See You In Hell, with Canadian label Stomp
Records producer Alex Giguère (The Beatdown).
Featuring members of Karnivool, Cog and
Scary Mother, the Sydney-based Floating
Me have cut an as-yet-untitled debut album
with producer Forrester Savell (The Butterfly
Effect, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus).
Meanwhile, The Waifs, who are all basically living
in the US fulltime these days, spent ten days in
a basement in Minneapolis recording their sixth
album, Temptation, due for release in March.
Also due for release in March is the eponymous
debut album from Adalita, recorded at Melbourne’s
Head Gap Studios and co-produced by her former
Magic Dirt offsider, the late Dean Turner.

64

Talking on his latest solo album Black Dub, producer extraordinaire and “studio rat” DANIEL
LANOIS also tells MICHAEL SMITH of his time spent with Neil Young and U2.

C

anadian-born Daniel Lanois was an aspiring
singer, songwriter and guitarist when he set up
his first studio in the basement of his mother’s
house with his brother Bob. From there, he set up Grant
Avenue Studios in an old house in Hamilton, Ontario
where he produced two albums for Martha & The
Muffins, after his sister, who joined the band as bass
player, introduced him. It was through these that Brian
Eno picked up on Lanois’ potential and called him in to
collaborate on the track, Dunwich Beach, on his 1982
Ambient 4: On Land album. Within two years, Lanois
and Eno were co-producing U2’s The Unforgettable Fire
and in 1987, The Joshua Tree. Lanois has gone on to
work with artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Neil Young,
Emmylou Harris and Peter Gabriel, but since 1989, when
he released his own debut album, Acadie, Lanois has
also re-established himself as an artist. His most recent
album, Black Dub, is a collaborative project with singer,
songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Trixie Whitley,
Belgian-born daughter of the late American alt.country
artist Chris Whitley, the four-piece filled out by rhythm
section Daryl Johnson on bass and Brian Blade on drums.
“It was pretty much live off the floor,” Lanois, on the line
from a café in Montreal, explains, the quiet grin palpable
in his voice. “It’s reassuring when you can get them that
way. It means you’ve got a pretty good band there to play
with. Even though the tracks were recorded all over the
world because I’m a bit of a troubadour and vagabond
when it comes to recording – I’ve always got something
in the trunk of the car! – the vocals were done in Toronto
and Los Angeles, and quite quickly: Trixie’s a first-taker.”
Lanois ran into Whitley a couple of years ago at a festival
in Belgium he was playing as a two-piece with Blade. A
family friend – he’d played guitar on Chris Whitley’s 1991
Living With The Law album – she presented him with a
CD of her own music that impressed Lanois enough to
invite her along to do a session. Her ability and soulfulness
became the final component for a project he had in mind.
“I’ve always had a dream to make very rhythmic
music, so this is my segue into a more groovebased music. I’ve always liked the Jamaican dub
culture – in fact I’ve been a resident of Jamaica for
15 years – and I love the forefathers of dub: Lee
Scratch Perry and others. I’ve always liked the minimal
display but with rock and soul underneath of it all.

“Some
Some of the songs are very band-oriented and some are
ore studio rat-oriented – that’s what I call myself, ‘Studio
more
at’! The more laboratory aspect of things I still love of
Rat’!
ourse and a lot of what I do is born that way. There’s
course
ann instrumental on the record called Slow Babyy – that’s
bviously sample-driven and rhythm box-driven but there’s
obviously
so a lot of vitality in the topping, the guitar playing.”
also
tting over a rhythm section informed by not
Sitting
nly dub reggae but also enough jazz and funk
only
to keep the groove interesting, Lanois’ guitar
sounds are typically cinematic and yet edgy.
“That’s a combination really. Some of the sounds are
more straight up and guttural, like you hear on Slow Baby
– there’s not a lot of trickery with those – and then I’m
fascinated by this new dub technique that I’ve invented.
That’s where the name Black Dub came from and it’s a
technique where I extract from already existing ingredients
in the recording, work on the sounds and spin them back
in to the appropriate places, and that’s most evident on the
track Where Love Lives. I don’t know where a sound will
come and it’s directly related to one of the components
already in the music but it jumps out as a surprise.
Sometimes I apply voltage control oscillators to that, which
gives it a human voice sound. It’s something I’ve been
working on for years and I think the Black Dub record
shows it off a bit and I also recently made a Neil Young
record and that really displays that technique in a big way.”
That Neil Young record is his latest solo album, Le Noise,
which was recorded in Lanois’ home in the Silverlake

area of Los Angeles. As it happens, Lanois has recently
opened a new studio, The Temple, at Roncesvalles
in Toron
Toronto. While Lanois describes the Young album
as “a m
man on a stool [playing acoustic and electric
guitars] and me doing a nice job on the recording,” it’s
those trademark
tr
sonic textures that sets it apart.
“I hit on this technique years ago, and I use boxes – old
boxes aand new boxes – they’re really just sampling
devices
devices. You can think of it like, you’ve made a beautiful
suit – now you’ve got to put on the pockets. So you
take from an already existing motif and maybe blow
it up eight times in size and then the pocket goes on
and it’s clearly a different expression – genetically
associated but not identical at first glance.”
I couldn’t of course let Lanois go, despite getting the
windup from the operator, without a quick question
about his working with U2. “Oh yeah, the Dublin boys!
I think about them every day. They’re like family to
me so I always think, ‘What’s Larry Mullen gonna
think of this beat?’ The Unforgettable Fire and The
Joshua Tree, that whole period in the 80s it was pretty
much nose to the grindstone and I had no social life.
Those records are quite deep and profound I think,
largely I think because of the concentration we had
in those days. I can only take so much responsibility
– those guys are a force. It was nice to be with them
and we kind of grew up together in the studio.”
Black Dub is out on Jive/Sony Music.

GEAR REVIEWS

IBANEZ RGA7
At last a worthy adversary has stepped into the
hallowed halls of the metal coliseum. Should you be
thinking of burying blues and roots in your backyard
then may I suggest picking up one of these bad boys.
The Ibanez RGA7 is certainly designed for those who
like to heighten the BPM. With seven strings of bonecrunching madness the Ibanez RGA7 alleviates the
playing of your stock standard metal tunes, obviously
having the ability to tremendously shift a wide of
variety of tunings. From your standard drop D, all the
way down to the likes of your drop B tunings so you
can roll with your buddies from Korn and Slipknot.
The Ibanez RGA7 itself is a pleasure to look at, featuring
a mahogany body with a bound rosewood fretboard, a
thin wizard 11-7 neck and a pearl dot inlay with jumbo
frets, the thickness of the first fret is around 19mm
and the 12th fret comes in at about 21mm and with the
all-round neck radius being clocked at about 400mm,
it makes shredding through scales and dive-bombs
that little more accessible to your all-round player.
Featuring a LZ7-B bridge pickup and also a LZ7-N
neck pick up, both include ceramic magnets and low
noise/high power seven-string active pickups, which
both can be altered between the three-way pickup
switching system. A device you’d be happy to see in

A tough one indeed this was also very intriguing as
the technique is certainly a form of art. The Moog
comes encased in a nice solid wooden body, all with
a nice finish that gives it an old fashion look. From
there it is certainly easy to get up and running, a
simple extra low voltage adaptor with an input around
230-240v. Screw in the antennas into either side of
the Moog, route it to you speakers or amplifier and
you are ready to rock’n’roll, conduct, bust a move
or whatever the case may be. Armed with a variety
of manipulating features such as the pitch shifter,
waveform adjustment, brightness control and, of
course, volume control they’re all easily accessible by
turning the knobs located on the front on the devise.
your collection, based not only on the style which it
accommodates and suites, but the dollar value attached
to the Ibanez RGA7 is very honest and affordable at
just under $1,300. Naturally there’s a little extra on top
for the case is definitely a must; don’t want to send
this baby out to war unprepared now do we? And it
would seem that wielding this axe is akin to going to
figurative war as it knocks many cheap imitations out
of the water. Reach way back in to your closet and grab
out that pair of leather pants that you never thought
you would have a reason to wear again and strap on
that headband because with something as beautiful
as this in your arms, you have to looking the goods.
Raymond Barnfeld
For stockists head to ibanezguitarcentre.
com.au. Guitar supplied by Allans Music
+ Billy Hyde, allansmusic.com.au.

MOOG ETHERWAVE THEREMIN

So the first thought here is to analyse how this feels. If
you caught the Lou Reed-curated Vivid Live at Sydney
Opera House earlier this year, you’ll be familiar with the
masterful Theremin playing of The Night Tremors’ Miles
Brown. This whole device feeds off hand movements
through the signal radius, essentially achieved by
movements akin to traditional conducting. So for the
uniformed, let us begin by scratching our heads.

An interesting point to this device you can control
a lot of the volume with the movements of your
left hand, and from Time Off ’s experience the right
hand controls the pitch of your tone, and the left
hand controls the tone volume itself. A lot of time is
required to really hone in on this piece of equipment’s
potential, that is probably best suited to experimental
adventures, although could be utilised in either
the rock or dance spheres if used intelligently.
The points when you feel like you’re conducting in
the privacy of your own home and with all matter of
bravado are beautifully satisfying. That and it’s a great
instrument to have while people are around as a party
trick, watching somebody trying to get their head around
this wonderful piece of machinery is outstandingly fun.
At the end of the day, the Theremin is not an essential
instrument, but one that can be superimposed
upon a variety of situations. Much like the early –
screeching – stage of violin, it demands a fair amount
of time and dedication to learning its craft. That
said, for $550 there’s plenty of laughs to be had on
the journey towards Brown’s level of competence.
Raymond Barnfeld
Supplied by Allans Music+ Billy Hyde.

EMPLOYMENT

ENTERTAINMENT

ADMINISTRATION

Australia’s leading online employment and news website dedicated
to backstage. The website is free to
search and join with out any hassles
of membership fees. www.backstagejobs.com.au

Guitarist, wanted to join established
Brisbane based band playing original
electro groove rock, pop and soul type
tunes.. CD in production with recording available, video shot and mixes by
US and European and Oz producers.
Band has management and gigs.

iFlogID: 9953

TRADES & SERVICES

iFlogID: 9710

NOT AVAILABLE FOR FREE
ADS. CL
Bass Player needed for originals electro rock, pop and soul established AV
band. Recording in production and
southern management. Share stage
with dynamic diva, swampy guitar
synth and power drums/mc. Email
links for links. Great tunes.
iFlogID: 9969

NOT AVAILABLE FOR FREE
ADS. CL

In January 2011 Pine Rivers Park
hosts the annual ‘Raggamuffin’ Festival. This new venue allows an area
exclusively for stall holders to sell
their products. The capcity of 20,000
opens a great opportunity to expand
clientele. More information info@
qlive.com.au

CALL CENTRE/CUST.
SERVICE
Telemarketer required with music
industry experience by Sydney
based established music production
company. Possible work from home,
if more suitable. Hourly rate plus
commission neg. Please email your
details for an appointment. leon@
oriium.com.au
iFlogID: 9367

Keys Player/Composer to join established band, good original repertoire
recorded & in production. Can contribute to that & next album. Electro
rock/pop/soulful sound, dynamic
diva & emcee. Video shot & a track
mixed US due out soon plus gigs &
management

AmpliTube iRig. Plug your guitar into
your iPhone/iPod touch/iPad and jam
anywhere with world class guitar and
bass tone right in the palm of your
hand - from the leader in studio-class
guitar and bass software. Simply plug
the iRig interface into your mobile
device, plug your instrument into
the appropriate input jack, plug in
your headphones, amp or powered
speakers, download AmpliTube for
iPhone Free and start rocking! You’ll
have at your fingertips the sound and
control of 3 recombinable simultaneous stompbox effects + amplifier +
cabinet + microphone just like a traditional guitar or bass stage rig! Add
amps and effects as you need them
— you can expand your rig with up
to 11 stomps, 5 amps, 5 cabinets
and 2 microphones in the AmpliTube
iRig app custom shop. ONLY $59.99
UNBEATABLE Logans Music (02)9744
2400 www.loganspianos.com.au
iFlogID: 6545

TASCAM 8 track digital studio
recorder. 2 mike and line inputs,
record 8 tracks mix down professionally and burn to cd in one unit. Perfect
condition used only a handful of times
$750.00 call on 0419 705 169
iFlogID: 9986

Tobacco Burst 1974 USA Gibson SG
Looks it’s age if your into that relic
rock’n’roll been around the traps
look. Sounds amazing. A real character & a reluctant sale. Recently had
professional setup & comes with it’s
original hard case.
iFlogID: 9430

Sell Control Surface Digidesign Control 24 (Focusrite) in excellent condition, $5000. Selling because moving
overseas. Please don’t hesitate to
contact me if you have any questions
and in order to discuss the price.

XIO NOVATION SYNTH FOR SALE
NEVER LEFT BEDROOM STILL GOT
BOX $300 NO LESS A SYNTH/SOUNDCARD/AND/MIDI CONTROLLER CITY
LOCATION 0404221049/MARK
iFlogID: 9777

BURLESQUE & DRAG
EYELASHES
Petticoats & Gallantry has launched
a new range of exclusive, boutique
handmade & decorated false eyelashes perfect for going out. With a
mix of over-the-top dramatic lashes
suitable for Performances, Burlesque,
Drag and even just for a special night
out, you’re sure to find some one-ofa-kind false eyelashes to wear. Each
pair is customised and decorated by
hand in a variety of themes, and commission orders are very welcome.
www.petticoatsandgallantry.com.au
Look for us on facebook for exclusive
promotions.

MUSIC SERVICES
BAND MERCHANDISE
NOT AVAILABLE FOR FREE
ADS. CL
- PRO QUALITY BACKING TRACKS!
- MIDI or MP3 - Any song you want
- Send me the song today, Get the
MIDI file the next day! - $25 for MIDI /
$35 for mp3 - EMAIL: vangelis2133@
yahoo.com PHONE: 0449672435
iFlogID: 9706

Gig Launch has heaps of opportunities for artists in Australia and around
the world. We’re always on the hunt
for new artists, so head over to www.
giglaunch.com.au and get submitting! Go Aussie, Go Gig Launch

MIKES GUITAR GARAGE GUITAR
REPAIRS & SETUPS www.mikesguitargarage.com (02)95862486. We
are passionate about Guitar Repairs.
From simple restrings, complete
setups, repairing broken headstocks
or installing pickups, we can do ANYTHING! We can get your favourite axe
sounding and playing better!

iFlogID: 9386

Gig Launch is Australia’s first online
booking agency. Gig on a Japanese
Boat for 6 months at AU$3000 per
month, Submit your music to feature
films, Play at any of the Scorcherfest
festivals and Apollo Bay! Just head to
www.giglaunch.com.au
iFlogID: 10004

SnakeEyeProductions offers EPK’s
also know as electronic press kits,
they work as a bio/show reel, to
promote your band to bookers/
promoters/labels and venues. PH0416120639
iFlogID: 9588

EP RELEASE
EVERY SONG - RADIO READY! SPECIAL PRICE avail for singer/songwriters until end of January 2011...
Have 5 songs produced, mixed &
mastered for ONLY $499 per track!!!
Email info@nathaneshman.com for
more details as conditions apply. Visit
www.nathaneshman.com for audio
examples
iFlogID: 9963

iFlogID: 9373

SIGNUP FREE! SONGUPLOAD
FREE!
RockCraze.com is a Musicians Social
Networking Portal. We created an
opportunity for Musicians, Song
Writers. Bands and DJ’s to not only
keep close ties with their fan-base
but to also sell your own music on
RockCraze.com Share your works on
RockCraze with all the other SNS’s
like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace
including many others.
iFlogID: 9972

www.ozjam.com.au is free to join,
and with over 4500 members its fast
becoming the largest online music
community in Australia! If your looking to join or form a band, find a
band member, or get exposure check
Ozjam out today!
iFlogID: 9941

PA / AUDIO /
ENGINEERING

HIRE SERVICES
For as low as $100, you get a professional PA system with a sound mixer
with operator. Suitable for weddings,
pub/club band gigs, private parties
etc. infovision@yayabings.com.au
Contact Chris 0419 272 196
iFlogID: 9834

MANAGEMENT
MINSTREL MANAGEMENT Need help
with your music career? We provide
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NEXT LEVEL? www.minstrelmanagement.com
iFlogID: 9681

PA/OPERATOR FOR HIRE For as low
as $100, you get a PA system with a
sound mixer, complete with a human
operator as well to set it up for you
for the evening. Contact Chris 0419
272 196.
iFlogID: 7415

RECORDING STUDIOS
Bedlam’s intimate two room studio is
fully equipped with the latest in pro
audio and provides a landscape for
creative brilliance. Bedlam offers a
wide variety of tracking, production
and mixing solutions to cater from
demos to complete releases
iFlogID: 10010

SINGER/SONGWRITERS have a home
studio and require a producer to help
polish your tracks? High-end recording studio with the convenience and
universal application of the Internet.
World class session musicians work
with you every step of the way- more
information www.rockethouseproductions.com
iFlogID: 9842

iFlogID: 9578

ROCKIN REPAIRS - GUITAR TECH
RESTRINGS-SETUPS-UPGRADESREPAIRS Do you live to play? Whether
you’ve bought a new guitar or a
favourite is feeling faded, we’ll rejuvenate it! We work hard to give you the
feel/sound you want! 0405253417
tara@rockinrepairs.com www.rockinrepairs.com
iFlogID: 9340

TUITION
GUITAR LESSONS! Luke has been at
the forefront of the Australian Music
Industry for the past 10 years. Signing to 4 record labels, sharing management with Matchbox 20, playing
National arena’s, and writing songs
with Eskimo Joe. Call: 0400077901
iFlogID: 9679

Experienced Guitarist looking for
good Sydney Cover Band. At 23 I
have been playing for over 10 years,
have 4 years professional touring
experience, Pro Gear (Fender, Gibson,
endorsed by Mesa/Boogie). Email
anthony at anthony320chmiel@hotmail.com No Time wasters please.
iFlogID: 9720

SESSION GUITARIST available to play
on your next track remotely via the
internet. Great quality tracks without the expenses of studio time and
travel. Perfect for producers/songwriters Excellent equipment,tone
and touch, 20 years experience. For
examples further information- www.
rockethouseproductions.com
iFlogID: 9844

OTHER
Specialising in High Energy Funk and
Afro- Cuban styles. If you want fire
and professional energy to your performance, then call Simon 0415 138
589. Paid gigs only
iFlogID: 9614

SnakeEyeProductions specializes in
live gig film clips for your website or
myspace. Filming in HD with broadcast quality equipment, we edit clips
and provide DVD transfers/authoring and uploads. Great way to make
your music stand out from the rest.
ph-0416120639
iFlogID: 9584

MUSICIANS AVAILABLE

SINGER
Guy (26) with singing in his blood.
Need music in my life.I’ll give my all
and be myself.Definitely a performer/
frontman. Got lots of energy, inspiration and can write lyrics.I believe that
the right band will find me.
iFlogID: 9882

MUSICIANS WANTED
DRUMMER
I am looking to join a funk/R&B/
soul cover or originals band. I’m 33,
played for 20 years, and have own
equipment. Tony 0437 725 521
iFlogID: 9643

Pro level drummer with good vocal
ability available for gigs, sessions,
tours etc. Good gear, good attitude,
own transport. Can play many styles,
specialising in Rock and Funk. Based
on the Sunshine Coast. Call Paolo on
0404054743
iFlogID: 10012

Drummer wanted for original music
project, currently an acoustic solo
act but I want to develop it into new
sound with a new band; www.jamesdonnelly.com or call James 0400 342
852 (South Sydney Area)
iFlogID: 9480

We seek guitar players who are looking to earn money teaching guitar.
Training and teaching materials
are supplied. Teach from one of our
schools or your own location. Limited
positions available. Visit www.g4guitar.com.au for details.
iFlogID: 7447

I am a good singer with quality
studio lookin for guitarist who likes
radiohead jeff buckley damien rice
style stuff to write with I have good
contacts,i do pop as well/covers
iFlogID: 9779

looking to start up a new acoustic
band from scratch and am keen to
get it started. looking for over age of
18 and needs to be able to contribute
as a two piece band. Shane
iFlogID: 9371

National touring band require professional guitarist. Age 18 -25. Must
be proficient in all forms of Rock,
Blues, Roots.Involves backing high
profile artists. Show operates out of
Queensland. For further details email
marty@thewindupdolls.com or phone
0408 010 789
iFlogID: 9925

iFlogID: 9992

Drummer Wanted! hey were a couple
of guys who are keen to get a serious
metal band up and running in kiama
area ,so far just guitar and bass influenced by megadeth,maiden,slayer so
if interested call at 0435510600
iFlogID: 9499

Sydney contemporary rock band is
looking for a young vibrant 22-30-yr
drummer to join now!!! Songs ready
to go, gigs waiting for us and we are
ready to record our first album early
2011.
iFlogID: 9661

GUITARIST
GUITARIST WANTED FOR SYDNEY
ROCK BAND. PREFERABLY AGED
BETWEEN 18-25. WE ARE SUPPORTING CHOIRBOYS IN MELBOURNE IN
JANUARY AND WE ARE LINING UP
MORE GIGS IF YOU WANT MORE INFO
THEN CONTACT US... 0404 166 433
pippincopps@yahoo.com.au
iFlogID: 10029

ers are here to help you create and
design your website with ease. We
specialise in building websites that
work. When you hire us to design
your website we’ll give you a product that looks great and that actually
works for your business or service.
Packages start from $400 Call Richard or Kelly on 0424 125 169
iFlogID: 6665

iFlogID: 9870

iFlogID: 9612

8 piece soul, reggae and funk style
band in Marrickville, Sydney looking
for a drummer who can be ready to
gig in 8 weeks! Rehearsals 11-3pm
every Sunday in St Peters, please
contact us if you are interested, jon@
low-gear.com

SINGER

KEYBOARD

Hi, I’m looking for a great male vocalist. To sing only one dance song.
Thanks
iFlogID: 9860

Require a strong professional female
singer with cover band experience for
high end Corporate and private Functions Party Covers Band and agency
backed! Send CV/bio to info@techwebdevelopers.com on receipt I will
send applicable band website, setlists,
songs etc

Professional Band and Business
Websites: Videos, audio clips/jukebox, Photogallery, Gig Dates, About
Us, Contact Us and much more
from $399 fully hosted. See www.
bizwebsites.com.au or contact info@
bizwebsites.com.au today!
iFlogID: 9840

OTHER
Do you have an Iphone? If yes, please
download my free app, radio bondi,
cheers

iFlogID: 9714

iFlogID: 9653

Require a strong professional female
singer with cover band experience for
high end Corporate and Private Functions Party Covers Band and agency
backed! Send CV/bio to info@techwebdevelopers.com on receipt I will
send applicable band website, setlists,
songs etc

Is your life a cluttered mess? Take it
Shake it Life Coaching visit www.tisi.
me Xmas gift vouchers available.

Want to capture a live performance?
Professional live recording 24 tracks,
mixed and mastered my experienced
audio engineer. Can also record and
band mix tracks themselves.Done on
budget.0406456364
iFlogID: 9504

WANTED

iFlogID: 9659

National shows, recording and management backed. Need versatile
keyboard/synth. From vintage B3
and Rhodes to giant arpeggiator and
melodic synth. We have a keyboard,
you need to a basic knowledge of
chords and willingness to learn
songs. thebabyseal@gmail.com
iFlogID: 9884

OTHER
Festival4Stars International Songwriting Contest - now accepting submissions. Prize of an all expenses paid
trip to London, and all song submissions receive written feedback from
the judges. Heat 3 winners receive
$300. To submit your song, head to
www.giglaunch.com.au
iFlogID: 9388

singer wanted for metal bandin kiama
shelharbour area, no scremo gay
shit, true metal, looking for someone who writes songs with meaning
and purpose not just about deamons
and death so if interested call at
0435510600

OTHER
missing .. man from sydney central
yha.. with red hair and leather cuffs..
this is maxine kezerle..chick with
roxy pants...would you like to go out
for dinner sometime?? 0432470048
iFlogID: 9356

iFlogID: 9501

Singer/keyboardist to form 80s-today
covers duo on GC. Must be available to
rehearse, pref age 25-40, keen to gig
regularly.0422 642 933
iFlogID: 9576

Sydney Band looking for creative
singer to write some original music
with. 18 - 25 years old, music genre
ranging from soft modern rock
(Temper Trap) to alternative (tool/porcupine tree). Give us a call. 0431 485
328 (Toby).

to matt damon.. and the 7foot something guy from the yha.. does anyone
know you?? i keep trying to ring the
places where i think you’d be to no
avail..i know its been years.. please
call..
iFlogID: 9741

to the guy from the sydney central
yha.. please send me a message..
ill take you out for christmas dinner..
love, maxine

iFlogID: 9438

iFlogID: 9955

SERVICES
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MUSICIAN & BAND WEBSITES

Sydney gigs available - Empire
Hotel. Launching Empire Unplugged
November 25th as a showcase for
Sydney artists. To submit to play, go
to the Gig Launch website at www.
giglaunch.com.au
iFlogID: 9398

Sydney gigs available - Low302. Darlinghurst. Looking for bands to play,
show usually starts around 9pm. To
submit to play, go to the Gig Launch
website at www.giglaunch.com.au